A Certain Universal Probability
by Anime-ted Life116
Summary: We all know that Touma is a misfortune boy. But what if there was a slight change in his world? What could have changed? And what would the end game be? Starts from the High Priest Arc. Rated T for safety. No lemons, but some foul language Check my Bio for Info on my Fics. (Chapter 20 out now.)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

There is a city in the middle of the water, also known as Academy City. This city is a beacon of hope for the world as the most advanced technologically advanced place in the world.

And, like any other city or country in the world, there were secrets and a dark side to this city of science. One being the Underworld, the dark side of the city of science, was filled with experiments on humans that were illegal, assassinations, plans for sabotage, etc. There were also plans that were meant to bolster their status as a scientist, but, a bad 'side effect' of this was that students involved would be subjected to some experiments that would be harmful, or break, the human body.

Of course, such experiments would be halted by other scientists, Anti-Skill, or Judgement(to an extent). But that is not the point here!

In this wonderful city of science lived a certain individual. A misfortunate individual that many people(mainly girls) loved.

"Such misfortune!"

...and his signature scream echoed into the sky as he ran away from a large group of individuals.

Let's rewind time for a bit, shall we? 2 hours to be exact.

**_Time skip 2 hours_**

"Such misfortune..."

"Stop your complaining and pick up the pace!"

Currently, two males were chasing after another male. The first one wore a full suit, complete with blazer, tie and top hat. His pursuers were a young teen with spiky black hair, and a red haired man with a barcode tattoo under his right eye.

Arms hidden by his cloak, the red haired man turned to his companion. "Try to cut him off. You live here, so you should be much more familiar about this place then me, Kamijou Touma."

"Damn it Stiyl! Why do you always choose me whenever something like this happens! Why not call Tsuchimikado? I mean, dosen't he work for you guys?" Touma complained as he ran, managing to keep up with Stiyl.

"Unfortunately, he is currently trying to locate another group that managed to infiltrate the city, along with this man. So, you are the only one available." Despite his words, a small smirk could be seen under the dim moonlight.

"Such misfortune..." Sighing, Kamijou ran ahead to cut off their target. He knew that Tsuchimikado was not really busy. After all, he spent most of his free time at home with his sister Maika. But if he complained, there was a chance that Necessarius might take away Index. So, he had to take the world's unreasonableness without much fuss.

Sprinting ahead, he ran past a trash can hidden in the alleyway, making a few turns, before he found himself in front of their target.

Surprised, the man tried to change his direction, only to have his face meet with Kamijou's signature right hook. The impact, combined with his previous running speed, caused the man to do a beautiful mid-air spin, before he fell onto his back, unconscious.

"Good job Imagine Breaker." Stiyl commented, bending down next to the man as he talked. "The Archbishop sends her thanks for all your help.".

"Yeah? Well, your welcome." Inside, Touma couldn't help but be tired from this repeated events occurring. As he thought this, he watched as Stiyl placed a piece of paper on the base of their downed target's neck. The moment it was placed, a pale blue light enveloped the man's figure, before it faded away.

Standing up, Stiyl turned to face Touma. "Until next time, Imagine Breaker. And remember what you promised us. Keep her safe, and happy." As he said this last part, a steely glint appeared in his eyes.

Sighing, Touma could only nod his head in response. Nodding his own head, Stiyl picked up his target, placed him over his shoulder, and walked down an alleyway, his figure enveloped by the shadow of the two buildings.

Checking his phone, Touma started to make his way back to his dorm. Thankfully, he had made food for Index before he left, so his disappearance would be overlooked for a while. And based on the timing, he would be able to catch a sale that was going on nearby. He noticed it as he was running after the magician, the poster the last thing he saw before he was forced to go after their targeted magician. Departing the scene, he failed to notice a figure gazing on his figure from the top of a building. As the figure watched, Touma started to run once again, this time in the direction of the market's sale.

* * *

"Whew...thank goodness I made it." Touma sighed in relief as he exited the supermarket, hand laden with meat, vegetables and other necessities he needed to survive. By the time he had managed to arrive at the market, the sale was nearly over. Surprisingly, the store's clerk allowed him to buy the items at an even lower price then advertised on the poster, even though by the time he was done, the sale was over. Apparently, the store was closing due to low sales. And as one of the many level 0's in the city, he got an even further discount overall for the large amount of food he bought.

Humming to himself, Touma made his way back to the apartement, already thinking of what he would make the next few weeks. As he had some minced pork, he could choose to make some hamburg steaks, or, with some of the leftover rice he had in the fridge, he could make some fried rice. Mix in the eggs he had just bought, he could create some omelette rice, a dish that would satisfy even the ravenous Index.

Too engrossed Touma was in his thoughts that he had forgotten one small, important fact. Touma's misfortune:Whatever can go wrong, will get worse.

"Oof!" With a gasp, Touma accidentally collided with what felt like a wall made of pure muscle. Lifting his head, what he saw made him gulp in fear. Standing in front of him was a large man, probably a level 0, like him. His arm muscles bulged with every slight movement, threatening to destroy the leather jacket he had on his large frame.

"Oi. Shrimp." The monster of a man growled out. "Watch where you are going. It's pretty dark right now."

"Ah..." Touma could not respond. Too shocked was he when he heard those words. Was his luck finally changing?

"Get him boys! That fool bumped into our boss on purpose!" Another person behind the large man suddenly popped out, trying to grab Touma. Experience took over Touma's body, as he ducked underneath the grabbing arms of the person who had shouted. Raising one leg, Touma knocked over the large man. With a surprised look on his face, the man fell on his lackeys, his large frame helping Touma to get as many of them as disoriented as possible.

"Sorry!"

With a parting shout, Touma ran away from the scene, his legs pumping up and down as he ran as fast as he could with his goods. Touma heard some shouts from behind him, causing him to run even faster.

**_Present time_**

"Huff...huff..."

"Where is that bastard?"

"Probably long gone. Did you see how fast he ran?"

"Yeah. And that was with these bags on him.Without them, he probably made his way across this park before we even made it halfway."

"Come on boys, let's get back to the boss. And take those bags with us. Treat it as compensation for his life being spared from being beaten black and blue."

As the small group of selinqients caught their breath, they both praised and raged at the misfortunate boy. Bags of food and essentials lay on the ground, some of the contents even spilled all around the pavement. Grinning to themselves for coming to this most probable conclusion, the delinquents hurried to gather their spoils before it got raken by a desperate level 0. Smiling at their good fortune, they left the scene, unaware their movements were being observed by a certain individual.

* * *

From behind the tree, Touma waited in silence until the shuffling had stopped, before he quietly made his way back to his dorm.

The moment he had stepped into the park, he quickly staged a scene where he had fled, while in reality, he hid. Past experiences told him that he would be unable to out-run this group, seeing as he had food and such on him. Thus, he thought of a plan. By leaving a few plastic bags of relatively cheap food and some spare items he bought from the super mart, he made it looked like he had abandoned his items to escape. Once the group left with those items, he would leave the scene, his more important, and valuable, items on hand.

All in all, it was a pretty well thought-out plan for Touma. One of his better ones, in fact. The shadowed figure took down this fact, before it made its way back to its home, keeping to the shadows. Unbeknownst to the two parties, there was a third group watching Touma. A pair in fact. They kept their gazes on the departing misfortunate boy for a little while longer, before they dissapeared into the night.

* * *

"I'm back." Touma called out into the room. Soon afterwards, footsteps could be heard.

"Touma Touma!" Index cried out, her beaming face causing Touma to be at ease. "Did you get some ice cream?" Her sparkling eyes caused Touma to feel a little guilty, but he knew that he had to be forceful in dealing with the big eater sometimes in order to survive.

"No Index." Touma cringed a little inside upon seeing her pouting face. "But, I did manage to get some more beef and eggs, so we can have some omelette rice for dinner tomorrow."

"Yay!" With a joyous shout, Index went back to her television, her lack of ice cream already forgotten.

"Mew." Looking down, Touma was taken aback by the puppy dog eyes their resident cat had sent to the true owner of this room. Sighing a little, he bent down to scratch behind the cat's ears. "Yes Sphynx, I got you some nice cat food too."

With a satisfied look on its face, the cat bounded back to its master with a parting call. Moving to the fridge, Touma started to put the food in their respective places.

"No troubles so far human." A doll-sized figure climbed up onto the top of the fridge. This was Othinus. "That magic group that entered the city has been captured by that female Saint friend of yours."

"Any idea why they were here?" Touma moved on to refilling the stock of flour and rice reserves he kept under the rice cooker. With a well-practiced movement, Othinus leapt onto Touma's shoulder.

"You know I am not all-seeing." Despite her statement, Touma knew that Othinus's judgement was almost always on point if it concerned magic. Almost, seeing as she was no longer a Magic God. "Probably after that glutton again. Although some know that you are Index's guardian, most magicians do not believe you are a powerful enough threat to protect her. And as the church is literally on the other side of the world, they see no reason as to not try to come after Index." Chuckling, she made herself comfortable as Touma moved to where Index was. Currently, the tv was airing an episode about magical girls. Despite the mumbles Index gave every so often about false information and such, she seemed to enjoy the show. "But, then again, you live to surprise, human. After all, you became my Understander."

"And I yours." Touma smiled a little. Even though he had to go through a lot of pain(Understatement.), he managed to save Othinus. In the sense of helping her find a reason to stop her needless killing and saving her life. And saving her was worth it. "And it was worth all that we had to go through."

"Yes, yes." Othinus waved his response off. Recalling what had gone through her mind during her 'last moments', she pulled her hat down to hide her blushing fsli in embarrassment. A motion that did not go unnoticed by Index.

"Touma..." Index growled as she stood up, a menacing aura appearing around her. Sensing the sudden danger, Touma slowly moved backwards.

"Yes, Index?" Sweating slightly, he positioned himself into an optimal escape stance. Although he knew that Index was angry, he could not understand why. He had fed her, and he had kept the fact that he was chasing a magician a secret. So why is she angry?

"You chased a magician again?! Without telling me?" Oops. He said that part out loud.

"Gyah! Such Misfortune!"

* * *

As Touma tried to get Index to stop her attack, a dark figure watched him from the opposite building. It was clad in a long robe, obscuring most of its form. As it watched, Touma collapsed onto the floor of his room, the pain finally knocking him out. Surprised, Index quickly released her jaws from his head.

"Kamijou...Touma...You are very interesting. And an important part of my plans." The figure seemingly commented to itself. "Are the spells in place, Paladin?"

"Yes." A metallic voice responded in the darkness. "All spells have been set. Imagine Breaker will be soon yours, my liege."

"Good." The cloaked figure responded in a pleased tone. "Soon, my revenge would be done against _that person._ And nothing he does will cease my goal from being acheived."

* * *

**Author Notes(AN)****So, this is officially my second fic. Took too long for this part to be set. I have a plot and an ending(somewhat)set, but unfortunately, no way to start it all off naturally. Hopefully, all you readers would be pleased by this story that I have cooked up. And comments are appreciated. If you have some tips on how I could improve my versions of the character to be as close to the orignals(as of NT vol 14/15 of the Indexverse, that would be great(please send them to my email, with the title as character name).**

**Also, if Othinus seems a little OC, I have my reasons for that. I would probably explain that further on the next chapter, if enough people request for it.**

**There would be a little more info on what is going on in this fic as its progresses. For now, the next chp. would be on what LN this is adapting.**


	2. Life? Or Misfortune?

"_italics" - thoughts_

**Bold - Emphasis**

**_Italics Bold - Magic names or titles_**

"normal" - speech

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Life? Or Misfortune?

When Touma awoke from his pain-induced knock out, he found himself lying on the floor, a cushion set under his head. Moving his hand to his head, he removed the now warm, damp cloth. Looking around, the first thing he saw was Othinus sitting on Sphynx, the cat himself looking at Touma with what looked like a concerned look. Seeing that he had awoken,Sphynx padded over to the spiky haired boy to paw his arm, concern(somehow) showing on its face.

"What happened?" Touma asked Othinus as he comforted the small cat, scratching and petting his head. As the calico rubbed his head against Touma's hand, Othinus hopped off from her place on Sphynx's body.

"You fainted." Othinus sounded unconcerned as she gave Touma what felt like a status report. "And landed rather painfully, might I add, on the table."

"What?" Blinking his eyes, Touma looked around him. As Othinus had said, he had fallen on the table. Its remaining remains were scattered all around Touma's previously prone body. Most of the smaller pieces had been cleared, leaving a large part of the table top and a few legs as evidence of its existence. Why and how it broke after him falling on it, he did not know, nor did he want to know. In fact, he could just sum it up to his usual misfortune.

"This monster and I removed the pieces we could carry between the two of us." Othinus jabbed a thumb at said 'monster'. The calico, however, just continued to rub its head against Touma, ignoring Othinus's jab at him. "While Index prepared a bowl of cold water and a small rag for your head."

"Thank you, Othinus, Sphynx." Touma gave the cat one last pet before he stood up. Stretching his limbs, he checked the time. "Where is Index anywa-. Crap, I'm going to be late!"

Moving quickly, Touma moved to the bathroom, his usual 'bed', to freshen up. Whilst Othinus calmly moved to the door, she answered Touma's previous question. "She went out a while ago. It seems like she got an invitation from a friend of hers, so she went out to meet her."

"Did she have money for food?" Touma scrambled out of the bathroom, rummaging in his closet for a change of clothes.

"Yes. She took out a portion of the cash the church sends you monthly for food, as well as for some limited edition anime release that they were going to later." Othinus started to make her way to her objective.

"Wait. The church sends us money?" Pausing, Touma took in the fact that the church was helping him with Index's living expenses. Reality then came crashing down, and he hastened his movements once more.

"It is a recent development." Othinus spoke from her position at the counter-top. "Just two months ago, in fact. It seems that those higher ups have finally realised how much food that nun of yours eats, so they have started to send over some money to lessen your monetary troubles. It was all enclosed in a letter."

"Well, it does not help me if I did not know about it!" Dashing out, Touma did a check on his belongings. "No use complaining about it anyway. This is my luck. Such misfortune." Sighing, he looked at Othinus. "...I suppose you will be coming along?"

"Of course human." With a hop, Othinus leapt onto Touma's palm, where he deposited her into his front breast-pocket. "I will take any chance to get away from that calico, feline stalker. And it does bore me to be cooped up in this place. A Magic God would get bored, even if they have shrunk and was living in a single room dormitory space. I require some different form of entertainment."

"Just remember not to do anything unnecessary." Touma sighed out, shutting the door behind him and locking it as he left for his destination.

* * *

"He is late..."

Sighing, a girl checked her phone. Flipping it, she noted the time. Sighing again, she placed her phone back into her pocket, looking around once more to ensure that she had somehow not missed the idiot, as she liked to call him.

"Sorry I'm late, Misaka-san!"

_"Finally!" _Mikoto thought as she waved at the approaching form of Touma. " Your late, Idiot! What took you so long?"

"Sorry, Misaka-san." Kamijou panted as he neared the impatient girl. "Had some troubles the night before. My misfortune struck again." Having caught his breath, Touma stood up straight. "Shall we go, Biri-biri?"

"Stop calling me that." Despite what she said, Mikoto smiled at him. "Alright, let's go for some food first, then we can continue where we left off."

"Sure thing. And this time, I am paying." Touma tried to pay for their meal. 'Tried' being the keyword.

"No." Mikoto rejected it almost instantly. "And, like the past 3 times, I **will** be paying. What with your fortnightly cash revenue being so little, and the fact that the nun is a glutton, you cannot pay for our meals."

"But-"

"No buts." Mikoto dragged Touma off, effectively cutting off any arugement he would have given. "I **am **paying, and that is final."

"Alright." Touma relented. The first time this happened, when he tried to pay for their lunch, his usual misfortune struck again. As he forked over the cash, a waitress holding a plater full of food tripped. Acting on instinct, Touma moved to save the girl, only for the girl to dump the hot, scalding soup she was holding all over his pants, as well as elbow him in the chest. Apparently, the girl had taken some martial art as a self defence.

On the bright side, he did not have to pay for the meal, and he managed to get a free meal for when he next came to their establishment. Of course, he received some...other rewards...courtesy of the girl he had saved, both physically and financially. When the manager discovered that the waitress had tripped on nothing, he was so mad, he wanted to fire her on the spot. Touma managed to save her job, if barely. Resulting in the other rewards he received minutes later.

This, of course, caused Mikoto to change her view on his luck, and taught her a lesson. Should they wish to continue these meet ups, she would have to pay, and not the misfortunate boy. And this was insistence to pay was increased tenfold when she discovered the low stripend Touma got(via Saten), and the enermous amount of food she recalled witnessing the small nun devour. Eventually, Touma was forced to go along, as usual.

Walking for a bit, they reached their destination. Looking up, he read the name of the place they were eating this time.

"..Jo..seph?"

* * *

"You brought her along?"

"Hmph! This human cannot stop the wishes of a Magic God, no matter what he does!"

"Says the 15cm midget who, last I checked, could be drowned in a cup of water."

"Say what you want, human. But it is a fact that I have a better figure then you, no matter our size."

"Grrr..."

"Can you two please stop? We came here to help both me and Misaka-san, not fight like past time."

As Touma sighed, he nudged the tiny former goddess's head with his index finger, while his right hand supported his head, which was currently facing thw two arguing girls. He quickly averted it, however, when he was faced with two glares. One from a Level 5 electromaster. The other from a 15 cm wargoddess.

They continued to glare at Touma for a few more seconds, before they stopped, allowing Touma to sigh in relief internally.

"As I am loath to admit it, this human of mine is right." Othinus quickly leapt from her place on the table to Touma's jacket pocket, her feet finding footholds in the creases the jacket made. "Well then, please continue your business with this human." Yawning, the former Magic God tucked her head under the pocket, the lump in the pocket the only indication that the former goddess of war was there.

"That little..." Mikoto ground her teeth in frustration. Whenever she saw the former Magic God, her only thoughts were of anger, pain and sadness. Pain for what Touma had to go through. Anger for what Touma had to face. Sadness for Touma not asking for her help. All because of what Othinus did.

Calming herself, Mikoto took a deep breath, before she looked at Touma.

"So. About where we left off..."

* * *

Unknown to Mikoto, her friends were doing something equally as secretive as what she was doing.

Kuroko heaved a sigh. Her thoughts were a mess. In fromt of her, Kazari and Ruiko looked at their friend.

Both of them were rather confused. One minute they were walking into the 177 Judgement Branch Office, the next, they were sitting down in a nearby cafe, some sweets and drinks ordered. What made them even more confused was what Kuroko had ordered. Coffee. Now, this in itself could have been dissmissed by her friends as a way for Misaka to view her as a woman. But there were two things that stood out. Mikoto was currently not with them, nor was she meeting with them that day. And the fact that the coffee ordered was, in fact, black. No sugar, no milk, no sweetener of any sort was added inside the coffee.

"Shirai-san. What are we doing here?"

"No need to ask her Uiharu. I bet it has something to do with Misaka-san, as usual."

Kuroko ignored the words of her friends, instead tapping her foot against the wooden floor of the cafe the were currently in. Usually, she would be doing her Judgement duties around this time, together with her partner Kazari Uiharu and Konori Mii. However, instead of this, she had dragged her partner, and Saten, who happened to be taging along with the two, to a nearby cafe that was relativly empty around this time.

"Ah! Shirai-san! I nearly forgot!" Uiharu cried out in surprise, causing the few patrons in the cafe to look at the cause of the outburst. Upon seeing the blushing face of the seated girl, they shrugged their shoulders and resumed their own conversations, the small outburst already forgotten.

Blushing in embarrasement, Uiharu continued in a lower tone. "We still have to do the paperwork for the last few cases that occurred these past few days." Hearing this, Kuroko's frown deepened. It was true that in the past few days, the number of cases that had occurred was extremly abnormal. Small thefts, sudden destruction of buildings, and even small groups of students suddenly getting injured with small cuts or wounds, even though there were no espers nor sharp objects even remotely close to them. How these incidents occurred was a mystery in itself. However...

"There is no need to worry, Uiharu." Kuroko said, causing the other two girls to fall silent. "In fact, that is exactly why I brought you two here today. Because all of the paperwork had been completed."

"Eh?" Kaziri could not help but gasp in surprise. After all, out of the three members of the 177 Judgement branch, Kuroko was the one who did the least. And as Mii Konori, the other member of their branch, was not available during this time as she was visiting her friend, the only other alternative was that Kuroko finished it.

"In fact, when I came into the office this morning, ALL the reports we were supposed to fill had been done and organised." Kuroko continued, her face not betraying a thing.

Ruiko and Kazari became shocked. Had Konori actually done all the reports by herself?

"Then, Konori-senpai did all the reports for us?" Uiharu asked, a sad expression on her face. "I guess we should get her somethig as a thank you gift. Perhaps-"

"No." Kuroko cut Kazari off. "In fact, when I looked through the security tapes, I discovered that it was not Konori-senpai who did all the paperwork. It was a hooded figure who did all of them."

Sighing, Kuroko drank from her cup of black coffee, ignoring the gasps of surprise and shock from the other two girls that were sitting with her. "And when I looked through the reports for a clue as to who did it, I found this." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out...

"An earpiece?" Both girls blinked when they saw what their friend found in the empty Judgement office.

"And this." Reaching into her other pocket, she pulled out a smartphone. Normally, this would not be surprising. However, Academy City did not sell these type of phones so readily. In fact, these type of phones were not easy find. Smartphones in general were not that developed in Academy City. Seeing as most of the advancements were used for some form of warfare technology, or used to help bolster Academy City's connections with the rest of the world, most of the scientists saw no need for any developments in the communication sectors. Hence, to ensure that the students would not get 'out of touch', so to speak, with the rest of the world, including their families, the teachers decided to request for a phone that had Academy City's advanced tech. The result:a flip-phone that had a greater range, longer battery life, and was harder to destroy than the average flip phone

That was not to say that there were no sales of the smartphone. It was just that the flip phone was more convenient, cheaper and portable for the students to hold a flip phone then to buy a smartphone. After all, in the minds of the majority of the students(which were level 0s to level 2s), the flip phones in Acdemy city were as good as the smartphones sold worldwide, with the added benefit of being able to survive longer in a city full of esper abilities that could melt, freeze, crush etc. a phone. So, finding a smartphone, complete with a touchscreen, was rare. And for it to be left behind was considered to be either stupid if you had a low income. But, if you were a level 3 and above...

"One would consider this sort of act just fine" Kuroko muttered under her breath, attracting the attention of the two close friends, who were busy fiddling with the smartphone.

"Did you say something, Shirai-san?" Uiharu asked as she took her attention off the phone, giving Ruiko the chance to examine it more closely.

"Ah, yes. Uiharu, I need you to hack this phone and unlock it. This came with the phone and earpiece." Unfolding a piece of paper from her wallet, Kuroko handed it to Uiharu, who took it and read its contents aloud.

"Hello, to whoever finds it. If you are Konnri Mii, please pass this to Shirai Kuroko, Ruiko Saten or Kazari Uiharu. If one of the three is currently reading this, I would like you to gather the rest, excluding the 3rd strongest esper, the 'Railgun'. Afterwards, I would like the Goalkeeper to hack open this phone. Further instructions would be found inside the folder labelled as "Breaker000". Please keep calm once you read these instructions, as well as follow them closely. Otherwise, you would be unable to find out the secrets that I wish for you to discover."

"How does he know that I am the Goalkeeper?" Kazari asked Kuroko in an undertone, her hands shaking slightly. If whoever did their paperwork was in fact someone from Judgement, she would not be so worried. But that was the problem. They did not know who sent the letter. Should the person who sent the letter, as well as did their work for them be from a hostile organisation...

"First, hack the phone. We might get more information that way." Kuroko took the phone from Ruiko and handed it to Kazari.

Accepting the phone, Kazari booted up her laptop, which Kuroko had teleported to get, and connected it to her laptop. Keyboard clacking away, her grim expression became one of bewilderment, before finally becoming one of confusion. "Huh."

"Huh?" Kuroko and Ruiko repeated what Kazari had said. "What did you find, Uiharu?" Ruiko asked curiously, leanig over to look at what the screen displayed. Wordlessly, Kuroko teleported herself to beside Kazari as well to look at what had caused her partner to change her expressions so quickly.

"Congratulations! Looks like you got in huh. Well, its a little late, but I must say, I do enjoy watching you guys work. Seeing the four of you work together is great and all, but what makes this sort of thing super interesting to me is the small secrets that a person would keep from even their closesest friend, if it was for the sake of keep their friendship or protect them. Oh, and I'm not refering to your group in particular. This is referring all people in general.

So, back on track. I suppose the Goalkeeper is wondering why the Judgement system is implemented onto this phone. Short answer: I copied it through some mysterious methods. If you really want to know, you would have to wait until we have met face to face and have uncovered the minimum jumber of secrets that I know.

Now then, for the info I promised you three. First, open the folder named Breaker000,. Further instructions in the folder." Ruiko read aloud for the three students, who had frozen up while reading, thier eyes unblinking.

"What does he mean he copied the system?!? In fact, how is it possible?" Kuroko asked their resident hacker, shaking Kazari's shoulders as she did so, stunned by how easy the hacker/helper had written it.

"Z-ztop zhaking me, Shidai-zan." Kazari managed to speak through the shaking. Kuroko stopped shaking her partner's body vigorously, giving Kazari some time to speak.

"Theoretically, it is possible to do so with time and the right equipment. However, based on the fact that an alert would be issued if there was an unauthorised user on the servers, I doubt that it would be possible for it to work for a short time. That is for the system itself. But, what this person did was copy the old Judgement encriptions and placed it into this phone, with a few unique pieces of code to trick those who are not part of Judgement's ranks into thinking it is a high ranking encription that can only be decripted by the military."

"How can you tell it is from Judgement's old encription?" Ruiko asked her best friend. Although she was a level 0, and was not part of Judgement, she knew that the old encriptions were tough to crack unless you were a skilled hacker or an electromaster of level 4 or higher.

"These parts," Kazari pointed to some seemingky completed pieces of code "are part of the more complicated pieces of code that only Judgement techs could recognise, or skilled hackers that can hack. Electromasters level 2 and below would not be able to hack past this, seeing as their abiities are far below the needed output to hack open. And as there are a low number of electromasters who have connections with Judgement.."

"...only a select few can hack it." Ruiko caught up to what Kazari was trying to say. "But, why were you so surprised earlier?"

"Ah." At that point, Kazari blushed hard, causing her two friends to tilt thier heads in confusion. "The code itself is not hard to crack. It is the password needed to unlock it that surprised me."

"Password?"

"Yeah." Kazari nodded her head as she moved to look for the folder that they needed in the phone, her blush fading a little. "The code is the first layer. The second layer is at least military grade protection software with a password that can only be discovered through a question by only those who recognised the first layer could decipher."

"What was the question?" Kuroko asked curiously. If there was such high grade protection below the first one, why was there even a need for the first layer in the first place?

Blushing harder than before, Kazari answered in a small voice. "-o is the-"

"Hm?" Kuroko focoused her attention on Kazari. "I could not hear you, Uiharu. Can you please speak up?"

"It was "Who is the person who flips the skirt of the Branch 177 member?"" Kazari screamed in an undertone, miraculously not catching the gazes of the cafe's other customers. Acting in sync, the two looked at the culprit. Noticing their gazes, Ruiko took charge of the phone and looked through for the folder.

"I suppose this means we should be even more cautious of this mysterious helper of ours then." Kuroko finally sighed out, causing Ruiko to heav a sigh of relief in her heart. "If he knows who our friends are, he or she could target them anytime."

"Then, should I-"

"Found it!"

Ruiko's low exclamation stopped Kazari's and Kuroko's inpending conversation. "Here it is... it just says call this number via the bluetooth earpiece, Shirai-san." Ruiko spoke after a short pause, taking the time to look for the number, as well as reading the message that was in the folder.

Taking the phone, Kuroko scrolled through the list until she found the number they were looking for. Dialing it, they waited for a response.

They did not have to wait for too long.

"Hello, this is your informant speaking."

* * *

**AN**

**Right, so this chapter is going to be released early. A late Christmas and New Year present for all lovers of the A Certain Magical Index series. Now, lets see... Ah. First on the list, the date this is set.**

**First off, I altered the timeline a little for my fic to run as great as possible, so don't be surprised by the date. It would be January 2nd, the year after Touma lost his memory(Im calling that year Alpha Year)**

**For those who dont know, this day is during one of the 3 break times for the average Japanese student. Im making it as close I can to being the average day of a high school student. Of course ,some info would be wrong or missed as I am not a Japanese student.**

**Would you guys like some sort of entertainment section at the end or start of each chapter? It would be much appreciated. This review would last until the start of June next year, so please review!**


	3. Side Missions Of Life

_"italics"_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

***Bold* **\- sound

Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.

* * *

Chapter 2: Side missions of life

"Hello, this is your informant speaking."

"Eh?" Kuroko could not help but let out a noise of surprise. Despite the fact that the voice was disguised to make the gender indiscernable, the tone was obviously cheerful and carefree, just like one from a help center. She was expecting something like, "I see you found my message", or " If you want to know more, you would have to do this.". Not something like...this.

"We have a lot of time. Well, actually, not that much. More like 2-3 hours after the next 2 or 3 conversations we would have. So, I suggest we get down to business." The tone did not change much, its carefree like nature still remaining. "Please pass this earpiece to Ruiko Saten, and connect both yours and Kazari Uiharu's earpieces to this call. I suppose you can do this rather quickly. Once that is done, I would explain further. I need all of you to be listening to what I am saying if you are to be able to discover the secrets I am about to expose. All questions after you we are done, I suppose. Depends on the tkme remaining."

Kuroko had many thoughts going through her mind right now. But she knee that if there was a time limit on, she needed to be fast. Tossing the earpiece to Ruiko, she quickly teleported both her and Kazari's earpieces into her grasp, connecting both of them to the call, before teleporting it back to Kazari. "Put this on."

Blinking in surprise at how fast her partner had acted, Kazari fitted her earpiece into her ear. "If Shirai-san is acting this fast, the person might have some time-sensitive information for us."

"All done?" Receiving murmurs of "yes", their 'informant', as he or she called himself, he continued. "Good. Then, this first secret is very important. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that this one secret is directly connected to four very influential people."

_"Four?" _Kuroko filed that piece of information away for another time. "So, once you are ready, give me a shout, as one would say. "

"Wait!" Kazari whisper-shouted into her earpiece. "Who are you?" Silence greeted her.

"Don't bother, Uiharu." Standing up, Kuroko went to pay for her drink. "Based on what he had said, we need to hurry. If he answers some of our questions now, we might end up missing our window to discover whatever he wants us to know."

"Alright, Shirai-san." Laptop packed, Kazari shouldered her bag. "Do you think we would have to go far?"

"Perhaps so." Kuroko held the door for her two friends.

"Maybe you can use this chance to lose some weight, Uiharu!" Grinning, Ruiko poked her belly, causing Kazari to blush in embarassment.

"Saten-san!"

* * *

"So, what are your questions?"

Their mysterious informant had told them to go in the direction of the famed 'windowless building'. Despite their confusion, they did as they were told. As they ran, their informant opened the dsm that was their questions.

"What's your name?"

"Wait a month, then we'll see. Just call me the Informant for now."

"Gender?"

"Male. And before you ask, I disguised my voice to prevent my age and nationality from being discovered. Can't be too careful."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I would like to say ' It's for fun! ' in a carefree tone, but it's to save lives." The trio could clearly hear his tone get darker, more serious, unlike his earlier happy-go-lucky nature. "In fact, I guess you could say that this is because of a mistake on my part that this is happening. If I had not done some things, millions of lives would not be in danger."

"So, we are just cleaning up after you." Kuroko summed up the situation, not pleased with how everything was going. If, in fact, all of this was to get people to help clean up his mess, her view on him would fall tremondously, even though they have not met.

"Oh no, that is not the case." Their informant sounded a little offended. "Believe me, if I could, I would be cleaning this up all by myself. But the problem is, my...enemy...I guess you could say, is making use of people here to kill me. And the worst part is, they would not lose any sleep over sacrificing a few thousand lives, if just to obtain their objective. Both their allies, innocent bystanders and their foes."

"So, this is something similar to a collaboration." Kazari summed up the small conversation. Despite having gone through Judgement training, Kazari was not as fit as Ruiko or Kuroko. She was more of a backline supporter, not a frontline vanguard type of person. Even now, she was panting heavily, trying to keep up with her more atheletic friend and partner. It did not help she had to carry her laptop as well.

"That is correct." They could hear his tone become a little lighter. "At least we avoided jumping the gun this time. Unlike some people that I know. Well then. Two more questions before I close this off."

"So this...colloboration...how long would it last." Kuroko asked, her previous thoughts on their informant being pushed back to her mind for now. Although she did not want to work for someone to clear up their mess, she could not just stand by if there were lives on the line. So for now, she would tolerate this person's help for as short as possible.

"I suppose...3-4 months." The pause earlier did not help improve Kuroko's thoughts on him. "It depends on what could happen. And on luck."

"Luck?" Kuroko could not help but scoff. "There is no such thing called luck. What people call 'luck' is in actual fact a set of probabilities."

"Say that after you meet a certain person." The person behind the phone spoke, his tone full of mirth.

* * *

In another part of Academy City, a certain misfortunate boy sneezed.

"You okay?" Mikoto asked Touma, handing him a piece of tissue as she did so.

"Some one must be talking about this human." Othinus, jostled awake by the sudden sneeze, jabbed a tiny thumb at the mentioned person.

"Ah, sorry Othinus." Touma sniffed. "Did I wake you?"

"Don't worry human." Othinus waved off the apology. "I needed to wake up soon anyway."

* * *

"So, final question."

"How did-"

"Shit. Sorry." The Informant cut off Saten's question. "God damn it!"

"What's wrong?" Kuroko asked the question in place of everyone. Ruiko was helping Kazari up, who had jumped from shock at the sudden shout. Coupled together with the fact that her physical abilities were bad, she was exhausted from the long distance they had to go, and that she was carrying her laptop with her, Kazari could not recover from the her sudden jump and fell, hitting her face against a lamppost as she did so.

"Change in plans. Do not go to the Windowless building. Go to the switchyard at School District 17. Once you get there, be prepared to fight." Over the phone, the three could hear sounds of combat. "Shit! ***Crash*** Damn it you bastards, take this! ***Crack! Roar*** Still kicking? Good, have a present you creeper! ***Bang!* **Ah, sorry about that. So, meet you there in about an hour."

"Wai-"

***Doo***

"Tsk. Great." Kuroko clicked her tongue and starred at the phone that was given to them in slight anger at being suddenly cut off.

"Anoh," Kazari panted from her sitting position, rubbing her bruised nose.

"Yes, Uiharu?" Kuroko looked at her temporarily downed partner.

"Couldn't we have taken the bus earlier? Or teleported there with Shirai-san's help?" Kazari questioned her partner. As she rested, she had noticed a bus pass by the small group. When she saw that, the question pooped into her mind.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Ruiko, Kuroko and Uiharu only looked at each other with a blank gaze. With forced laughter, Kuroko broke the awkward silence.

"Y-yosh. Let's go! The longer we wait, the shorter time we would have to get there."

"Y-yeah. Let's start moving! Shirai-san, can you teleport us?"

"Y-yeah! T-that would be much faster! And we also need to get ready to fight, if what Informant said was true."

Laughing nervously, the three girls tried to get their minds off what Kazari herself had just pointed out.

In truth, the three would have done exactly as what Kazari had said, had it not been for the fact that what Informant had done, as well as what he was doing, pushed that common sense out of their mind. And so, this is the result of their blunder: Running through quite a few districts, using the backalleys as shortcuts whenever possible.

Still laughing awkardly, the three took a bus to District 17, trying their very best to ignore their previous blunder.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with a certain misfortunate boy...

"Haaa..." Touma sighed in relief. "I guess that is all for today?"

Beside him, Mikoto stretched her arms, allowing blood to flow back through them due to lack of use for the past hour. "I guess so. If that is all your homework."

For their last few meet ups, they had a timetable of sorts to follow. Eat, work, and then information exchange. The work part was mainly for Touma's sake. Regarded as the weakest esper in Academy City by the system, Touma needed to put in a lot of effort just to not flunk out of school.

Fact is, his maths and science understanding and knowledge were above average, and when compared with the rest of the world, he was quite smart. The problems were his languages and esper development. Especially his esper development, since he had no esper ability to speak of. This is due to his Imagine Breaker stopping any ability from occuring. And, considering that esper abilities utilised calculations to use, his mental calculative abilities and scientific understanding was swept under the rug, so to speak.

So, most of the work regarding esper development and languages was coached by Mikoto and Komoe-sensei. Thanks to the extra help from Mikoto, he could now understand what was going on in his esper development classes. More or less.

"Should be." Touma scratched the back of his head. "Thank's for all the help, Misaka-san. I wouldn't be able to get a passing grade with all your help."

"Sh-shut up Idiot." Blushing slightly, Mikoto looked the other way as she scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "Ah, right." Suddenly remembering the deal they had made a few months back, Mikoto glared at Touma, catching him off guard. "Now its time for you to hold up your end of the deal."

"Fine..." internally groaning, Touma continued where he had left off last time they had met up. "So, we...er...what did we last talk about again?"

"Really? After what happened last time, how could you forget?" Narrowing her eyes, Mikoto glared at the misfortunate boy, causing him to lean back in a panic.

"Ah! Please forgive this misfortunate Kamijou-san!" Clapping his hands together, he bowed his head towards the brown haired electromaster. "With all the misfortune in this Kamijou-san's life, I completely forgot about what we last talked about. With the sudden increase in magicians coming into the city, and my daily misfortune, it pushed what we last talked about into the unknown corners of this Kamijou-san's mind."

Tapping her finger against her crossed arms, a spark flew of her bangs and struck the table, causing Touma to flinch in fear for his homework's life. Sighing, Mikoto uncrossed her arms, causing Touma to breath a sigh of relief. He hoped that this meant that Mikoto had calmed down. He was partially right.

"Alright Idiot." Mikoto's glare lessened its intensity. "I will recap what we last talked about. But!" Raising a finger, she caused Touma to gulp slightly in fear of what she was about to demand of him. "You will have to cook for me, and come meet my friends next week. And no complaints!" Seeing Touma open his mouth, she stopped the train before it could leave the station. "This is your punishment for forgetting, so be thankful that this Ojou-san is letting you off the hook so lightly."

"Fine." Touma sighed, already giving up on persuading Mikoto. He knew that Mikoto could have asked for another duel, or forced him to accompany her again for some reason. For her to ask him to cook, and meet her friends was very light punishment. However...

See, Touma was very reluctant to meet Mikoto's friends. One reason was the rumours surrounding both him and Mikoto. After their pretend date, Mikoto had to work hard to clear the air that Touma was not her boyfriend, and was actual just a random guy she used to ditch a stalker, who is now under arrest(actually, he is working as part of the City's dark side, but none of them knew that). But, with the sudden increase in Mikoto going out of the dorms for the past month, the rumours began anew. So, whenever she went out, she would quickly change into her casual clothes and go to places that many of the students did not frequent, so as to not draw attention to both her and Touma. If the Tokiwadai students saw Touma meeting with Mikoto's friends, they could start rumours about Touma and Mikoto. Of course, only the Dorm Manager knew what was actually going on, having encountered Touma and Mikoto doing their first meet up. But, that was a story for another time.

The main reason, however was quite simple. Kuroko. The past few times that they had met, Touma had eaten either a dropkick, spike attacks filled with malice that miraculously missed, or ominous auras that could kill. If he was to meet with Kuroko and she found out that the reason Mikoto was going out frequently in the past month was because of him...

Shuddering slightly, Touma turned his attention back to Mikoto, who was beginning her recap.

"So, we have gone through a number of things already. First, how magic works." Mikoto counted them off her fingers. "Then, we went through what Saints are, as well as their abilities. After that, we talked about the different magic groups you have met, as well as the number of people you met along the way. Speaking of, I still can't believe you know the president of the United States and met with the British Royal family." Glancing at Touma for a moment, she continued. "After that, we talked about how you lost your memory, and what you have done up till now. Last we stopped, we were talking about your encounter with that golem that I saw that time. Sherry...Cromwell, I believe. Othinus helped with the names."

"Indeed I did, human." Peeking out from the jacket, Othinus interjected. "And, we should be on the topic of Kazakiri. Oh, and thank you for this jacket that you gifted this human with." She patted the jacket she was currently in as she talked. "This thing has been really comfortable for me. In place of my Understander, we thank you for this wonderful gift."

"You should be, you tiny former Magic God." Touma sensed a little smugness in Mikoto's tone. "In fact, you should be thanking me on your knees for this jacket. I bought it to help Touma with his public image in mind." Mikoto started to glare at the 15cm goddess, who was hidden from prying eyes in her pocket, ignoring Touma who had seemed to taken some damage from what Mikoto had just said."I mean, why on earth would you **sit in plain view of the entire world**. Have you forgotten the fact that almost everyone, magicians and other people alike, **wanted you dead and actually think you are locked up in a maximum security prison?**"

"Hmph." Othinus snorted. "And why should I hide? I am a proud Magic God-"

"Former Magic God." Mikoto cut off Othinus. "Or did you forget that you hiding is to not make people think that Kamijou is some crazy maniac who loves little dolls?"

"Le-let's stop now, shall we girls?" Touma tried to calm the two down, while also trying to stop the jabs at his dignity from flying again. "We had this discussion last time. Besides," Touma looked at Mikoto hopefully. "Didn't you want to know about Kazakiri?"

"...Fine." Mikoto finally said after a while. But her tone said that she was not done with this topic. "So, Kazakiri. Who is she, exactly?"

"Well, you know the AIM Burst that you dealt with before?" Touma asked Mikoto, who nodded. "Well, Kazakiri is something like that. She is a collection of AIM Diffusion Fields of espers in Academy City, so if she comes into contact with my right hand...well, you can imagine what happens."

"But, how does she have a conscious? The AIM Burst I encountered just indiscriminately attacked people, and could not talk, much less think straight." Mikoto curiously asked, taking a sip of her milkshake as she did so.

"Surprisingly, the answer is this." Touma indicated to his power.

"Your right hand?"

"Yep. I was surprised to." Nodding his head, Touma explained further. "Apparantly, Imagine Breaker helped create Kazakiri's conscious by inducing fear into it."

"Fear?" Mikoto was confused. "How did that- oh." Understanding crossed her features. "I see."

"Yeah. With fear added into the mix, it helped create a human-like mind, and therefore, a human-like conscious that could not only converse with others, but could also think and feel, like any human." Touma stared at his right hand. "From what I heard from Komoe-sensei when I asked her, if something can't fear death, they cannot comprehend the feeling of beig alive. And ironically, this shows that my right hand is both the creator and possibly destroyer of Kazakiri

"But, what about her abilities? The super strength and ability to repair herself, I can understand, seeing as a being made from AIM fields could also use said fields to help rebuild her body, as well as enhance her strength. But, that does not explain her wings, or why both her hair and eyes become golden when she becomes all angel-like." Mikoto had noticed Kazakiri before, both during her 'angel mode' and 'regular student mode'. But seeing as she has not talked with said collection of AIM fields, she does not know much about her. Hence, resorting to talking with someone who actually knew about her, and is her friend.

"No clue." Seeing Mikoto's disbeliving face, Touma continued. "Honestly, I have no idea! But Kazakiri said that she got it from a virus, or something like that at first. Now, she can access it, provided she ask someone for help."

"Who?"

"She never said." Touma shrugged. "And, I would not pry. If she does not want to say, then I won't ask."

Mikoto sighed. "Looks like that's it for today." Looking up, she gazed at the orange-tinted sky. _"Today sure looks like a beautiful day. Especially the orange sky..."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_"Wait, ORANGE SKY!?"_

Checking her phone, Mikoto's face quickly turned a pale colour when she saw the time.

"Sorry, Touma. Have to go!" Grabbing her things(not that she brought much out in the first place), Mikoto ran off, using her powers to help increase her speed as she headed back to her dorm.

Left alone, Touma packed up his stuff, before he too left for his dorm room

* * *

"Touma, Touma!"

Unlocking the door, Touma was met with the smiling face of Index. "Yes Index?" Touma locked the door behind him as he made his way inside the dorm room.

"What's for dinner?" Index went to get Sphynx. Said calico cat was currently playing with some papers. Shredded remains surrounded the young kitten as he pawed at a balled up piece of paper.

Watching Index scoop up the cat, Touma smiled. It seemed that someone was in a good mood, unlike the night before. Removing his bag, he dropped it off on the floor, ready to cook the night's dinner. But it seemed fate had a different plan for the misfortunate boy.

"Hmm?" Touma felt his phone vibrate. "Is it Biribiri?" He was curious as to who was messaging him. Due to their earlier conversation, he believed it to be from Mikoto messaging him about when he was to cook for her. But, of course, his misfortune struck once again, causing his peaceful days to once again be thrown into turmoil. As he read the contents, he could not help but feel that his luck was to blame, yet again.(As well as the grudge magicians had.)

"Such Misfortune."

* * *

Message

To Kamijou Touma,

Hello, Imagine Breaker. You are to come to this location before this, or at, the time below. You may choose to decline. If you do not mind the destruction of, as well as deaths of innocents, Academy City.

Do not bother asking the Backstabbing Blade for help or information. This has nothing to do with the church Necessarius, nor any Magic Cabal you know. This is just a grudge against someone you know.

If you want to question us, we invite you over.

**Time: 2300, January 2nd**

* * *

**AN**

**So, yet another chapter done. And Im surprised at the number of people who are following this story. Quite a surprise, seeing as this is my second fic, as well as my third chapter.****To answer that question one of you posted, that perfect image is $*#:$@£%¥=#£*#@(-;#*@. Whoops, look like you would have to wait. Teehee ;)****Also, as a future disclaimer, this fanfic is my idea only. It may show some similarities to A Certain Infinite Possibility, A Certain Unknown Level 0, or a Certain Strange Addition, as these are the 3 fics I am referencing to to keep the characters and plot as interesting as possible. Just to say it again, THIS IS NOT BASED OFF OF THE 3 FICS I JUST MENTIONED. They are what got me to actually write about this, in fact. What should have been a Percy Jackson fic turned into one that revolves around anime.****See you all in the next chapter! And keep the reviews rolling in!**


	4. Duel

_"italics" _\- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Duel

Touma quickly finished cooking the dinner for Index. Some instant noodles he manged to snag from the last sale, as well as an egg and leftover vegetables he had to make it a more balanced meal.

Moving quickly, he grabbed his phone, abaondoning his jacket and bag in favour of saving them from destruction lest there was a battle ahead._ "Who am I kidding. With my luck, my stuff would get destoryoed by a random magic spell or item."_

"Touma?"

Hand mere centimetres from the doorknob, Touma paused in his movements. If he hurried, he could make it in time to meet with this magician, factoring in his misfortune as well. He hoped they are not as radical as the past ones, but from the message, this scenario was not likely. However...

"Where are you going?" Index asked from behind him, her voice laced with suspicion. Normally, Touma was dragged into fights with magicians without her knowing until afterwards, where he would then get bitten by her. But this time, he was actively told about this, and was invited over, no kidnapping involoved. He could choose to tell Index about this, get told by her to stay put, leave, then get bitten when he returns, or he could wait until later to tell Index after ge was done, and then get bitten by Index. _"Whichever route I choose, they would end up with me gettig Bad End!"_ Touma thought to himself, cold sweat running down his face.

"Is it a magician again?" Index asked a follow up question, having deduced a reason for his sudden attempted departure. Beside her, Sphynx mewed suspicion, mirroring his owner's tone of voice.

When he did not answer, Index sighed. "It's okay. Just go."

Not expecting this, Touma looked at her in surprise, his earlier plan of leaving quickly forgotten. "Aren't you angry? Why aren't you trying to stop me?" _"Damn it Kamijou! Why are you trying to dig a deeper hole for yourself?"_

"It's fine, you can go." Index smiled, although it seemed forced. "I know you would go even if I say not to. After all, you saved me even though I said you should stay away."

_"Is that what happened?" _Touma thought to himself. Although Index knew that he had lost all his memories prior to their meeting in the hospital after the magical incident where he had saved her, he did not hear her speak much about it.

"As long as you tell me beforehand, and more importantly, not get injured, this loving nun-in-training would be willing to overlook it." For a second, Index bragged about her kindness, lights and sparkles seemingly glowing behind her head, before she returned back to her usual self.

"Hai hai." Touma sighed at the display. He would have been more affected had she not bragged about her qualities a few times. And Touma was pretty sure that pride was considered one of the 7 deadly sins. "I'll be going now. I will make you some tempura when I get back tomorrow. I promise!"

Shutting the door behind him, he dashed off to the attached location on his phone. He would have asked Tsuchimikado about the message, but decided not to in the end when he heard him and his sister Maika having a good dinner. _"Best I don't disturb them then. Besides, even if I asked Tsuchimikado for help, he might die, Auto-Rebirth or not helping to offset the effects of an esper using magic." _

Because he had rushed off, he failed to hear the following conversation of Index.

"Touma is an idiot. Right, Sphynx?"

"Meow..."

"He left me behind..." Drawing her legs up to her chest, Index rested her head against her knees. "At least he told me about it this time..."

* * *

As Touma ran, his phone rang. Thanking the gods(Non-magic ones and the ones that did not seem to hate his guts.) that he had the foresight to grab it beforehand, Touma checked the Caller ID. When he saw it, he was shocked to see it was Mikoto. As he ran to the destination, he answered her.

"Hello?"

"Ah! Touma!" At the other end of the line, he could hear the sound of rustling fabric. Most likely Mikoto's bed sheets."I was just calling to tell you about the punishment I told you about."

"The cooking?" Touma was half surprised. He had expected this call to come in the next few days, not at this hour. "Why? Do you want to change it to another punishment or-"

"No!" Mikoto almost shrieked at the boy, causing him to reflexively move the phone away from his ears from the sudden high-pitched shout. "I would like you to increase the amount to be enough for my friends. We would be meeting them over lunch, so I decided that we should all meet with the lunch that you made."

"Is it fine to rely on this Kamijou-san?" Touma could not help but start to feel the pressure. "Would this lowly Level 0's food be enough to appease four ojou-samas?"

"It would be fine." Mikoto assured the misfortunate teen. "And its only two ojou-samas, not four. My other two friends are lower levels than Kuroko, so they would be fine with the type of food you would prepare. As for the funds, you would not need to worry. I would pay you the amount you need for ingredients."

"When?" Touma took a right. Normally, he would be taking a bus to his destination, so it would be faster. But unfortunately, his funds were a little tight, and the bus he wanted to take was a few blocks from where he lived. So, to make it, he would have to run full sprint for nearly 2 kilometres to reduce the bus fare as much as possible, while arriving at the area on time.

"In an hour."

THAT statement caused Touma to stop. "Huh?"

"I know that you are not in your dorm, you idiot." Mikoto's tone sounded annoyed. "I received a message. Similar to yours, I'm assumimg. So, I knew you would be leaving your dorm. But, I don't know where the place is. All it said was to ask you. So, where is it?"

"But-"

"And again, like before, no buts." Now that Touma stopped, he could hear whistling sounds from the other end. Now that he thought about it, it was most lilely Mikoto jumping from building to building using her powers. " I am only doing this now because the Dorm Manager has just checked if we were in our rooms. Plus, Kuroko told her earlier that she would be arriving late because of Judgement duties she had to do, as well as paperwork she had to fill, so I'm in the clear. Plus, even if you don't tell me, I can just find your location with my powers. So make it easier on yourself and just tell me where you are headed."

Touma debated on what he could do. On one hand, if he did not tell Mikoto, she would be delayed, probably long enough for him to settle whatever he had to do against whomever was waiting for him. But that would lead to him most likely getting shocked via a duel Mikoto would forcefully impose on him after the fight ends. But if he did tell her, he would not get a duel, but Mikoto might end up getting hurt because she involved herself in the Magic side. Telling her about it is one thing, but actual participating in a magic battle was another.

"Alright Misaka-san." Touma sighed as he started to run again. "You win."

"Good." Through the phone, he heard the whistling sound stop. "So, where do I go?"

"The place where we saved the Sisters."

* * *

"Why here?"

"Ah. Its the best place for a fight, seeing as two of the fighters' abilities are very destructive. Speaking of..." Turning his head, the fully amoured man seemed to glare at Mikoto. "Why is an esper here? I was certain I sent it without a link to ensure that she would take quite a bit of time to find Imagine Breaker, or even ignore it as a fake message."

"I know about magic. I forced Touma to tell me. Besides, if this Idiot is coming, so will I." Beside Touma, Mikoto huffed. "He owes me. And whatever you say would not change my mind."

"Its fine." Their mysterious guide waved off her concerns. "For me anyway. Besides, this is technically a fight that never happened, seeing as the magician fighting you is technically supposed to be dead. So my master has no right to conplain about involving an esper in this fight. Leading the way, the amoured person lead the two students of Academy City to their fight's location.

"Who is this man?" One might ask. The answer is simple. When the two finally arrived at the spot they had to go to, they found this man there. Dressed fully in western armour, he approached the two and introduced himself as the person who sent the two the messages. He also said that the actual fight was taking place at a different location, and not at the place they were currently at.

"But, why all the hassle?" Touma asked. He was happy that the fight was not going to be near any innocents, so no accidental deaths would occur. But the main problem for him was the fight in general. Why fight him specifically? It could be the person had a grudge against him, similar to Aureolous Izzard when he found out that Touma saved a girl within a month of meeting her, while he himself had failed to do so in three years he went into hiding.

"Its my condition for joining my master." The duo could tell they were near the actual fight location as their guide slowed down his walking speed. "The condition for him taking on me as an apprentice was that should he fight someone, there is to be no unneccessary bloodshed." Their guide abruptly came to a stop. "We're here."

When the two saw the location, they had to take a step back from the memories associated with the place.

Yes, it was the spot where Accelerator attempted to create plasma. Thankfully, Accelerator's plan was foiled by the Sisters. Standing in the exact spot where Accelerator once stood is a ginger haired man. He seemed to be about the same height as Touma. Clad in black robes like the ones cliched magicains wore, he smiled when he saw the forms of Kamijou, Mikoto and their guide/his apprentice.

"You have finally arrived, Kamijou Touma." Grinning from ear to ear, the man spoke. His voice was raspy, as if he had not used it for a while. "I have been waiting for your arrival. Let us not waste any more time, and start this match."

* * *

"This battle would be between my master, William Jackson, and his two opponents, Kamijou Touma and Misaka Mikoto." Their guide from before acted as a referee. "This match would end when one side is defeated or is unable to continue fighting." Raising his hand, their guide looked at both sides. "Any questions before the match begins?"

"I have one." Touma raised his hand. "Why on eatth is this something like a formal duel?!?" Without waiting for a response, Touma launched into something along the lines of a tirade. "I would love it if every fight I have to do is in the format of a formal duel so I can choose to not fight, but this is not the Middle Ages! So why?!" Both hands facing upwards, Touma all but screamed his displeasure at having to fight for no reason many, many times.

"I like to be an honourable sort of person." Opposite them, William spoke. "I have always preferred to have an honourable duel like this. Of course, during the match, one can use any tricks they have up their sleeve. But there is one thing I must always do if I am fighting against another person, and I am the one who wants to fight first. I must do so with a formal request." Throwing his left hand into the air, his cloak was swept to the side in a thearetical fashion. "And, I believe in the notion of fighting a person at his best, with little disadvantage to both parties. So, let the match begin!"

With that decleration, he leapt at Touma so fast, it seemed as if to one's eyes that he had dissapeared._ "Fast!" _Touma would have been hit, even with the evasive manouver he had done, had it not been for the bolt of lightning that struck the ground in front of the magician before he could get close to Touma.

"Have you forgotten about me?" Mikoto asked, her bangs sparking.

"Oh, not at all my dear. In fact, I was counting on you jumping in." Having evaded the attack, William smirked at Mikoto. "After all, if this is to be as fair of a match as possible, you would need to work with the Imagine Breaker, little girl."

"Are you saying that you are stronger than the two of us combined?" A vein bulged at a corner of Mikoto's head. She was already a little angry at being called a little girl, no matter how unreasonable thus thought was. _"Sorry for having such a small chest then!" _Like many girls, she was sensitive about her body. Specifically, her bust, or lack thereof, which can be considered as a little child's body type. Being called weak on top of that, even though she knew it was true, as well as the fact she was labelled the third strongest in Academy City...well...it can push one to the edge if they had their weakness pointed out, especially if one already has a short fuse.

"Yes."

"Go to hell!" With a flick of her hand, a bolt of lightning struck William, dust flying from the impact. Its voltage had been amped up to be enough to kill a horse, so if a human was struck with it, he would be dead before he hit the ground. But Mikoto was not that naive, having taken into account the stories she heard from Touma about magicians in the past month.

"Ha!" With a shout, a shield appeared on the left arm of William, blocking the attack.

"Wha-" Flustered by the sudden appearance of the shield, Mikoto tried to look at the man. Tried being the keyword. The second she laid eyes on the corcular shield, she immediately averted her gaze.

"Eh?"

Both students let out a noise at the same time.

"Why did you look away?" Touma continued to look at William. However, everytime he tried to look at the shield, his body would uncounciously look in another direction.

"I-I don't know!" Similar to her flushed appearance, Mikoto's voice was flustered. "I wanted to look at what blocked my attack, but then my body moved before I noticed!"

"Hmm...That must be Athena's famed shield, Aegis." A voice suddenly spoke from Touma's head, causing him to stop his movements temporarily at the sudden speaker. "It is said that the wisdom goddess's shield had the head of medusa imprinted on it. This gave the shield the ability to force her opponents gaze away from her direction. It is unknowl, however, if the imprinted head carried the same ability as when the cursed monster had when she was alive:turning people to stone, as people would look away before they could even glance at the shield."

"Waaaa!" Tilting his body, Touma managed to catch the passenger that had hitched a ride on his body. "Othinus? Why...or rather, how are you here? I left the jacket at home!"

"Hmph." Othinus did not look embarassed in the slightest. In fact, she looked a little smug. "Boy, you have a lot to learn about a woman."

"Huh?" Touma could not help but forget about the battle that was currently ongoing. "What does that have to do with anything?" A sudden impact at his body caused the misfortunate boy to remeber that he was currently fighting. "Nevermind. What was that Othinus?"

"Oh?" Othinus, having slightly superior sight to the boy due to her nature as a war goddess, voiced her thoughts. "This seems to be an arrow. Although I am not the nun, I can deduce that this arrow was fired by a bow that represents the greek goddess Artemis-"

"Hurry up!" Mikoto screamed at the pair, causing both of them to jump. Othinus especially, as the brown haired girl had used her powers to arrive at their location. Being small meant that what was a surprise shout for Touma seemed along the lines of a sudden air horn being blasted into her ears. "We don't have all night, and I need to know what the heck he is using!"

"I was getting to that." Othinus gave Mikoto a dirty look before she continued. "Artemis is the goddess of the moon, archery and hunting. From what I an guess, the bow is being symbolized as a weapon of the goddess herself, which means this person would have a source of unlimited ammunition."

"Hm? What do you mean by that?" Touma asked the question on Mikoto's mind. Sighing, Othinus explained further. "By staging this attack at night, William is able to, through Idol Theory, create arrows out of moonlight through using the bow as a medium as Artemis is a goddess of the moon. Although, I am not as proficient in the legends and myths as the nun."

"I see. So this would mean that Jackson-san would have an unlimited source of ammo..." Mikoto hummed in thought. "...perhaps we could do this...Touma." Nudging him, Mikoto whispered her plan.

* * *

"Oh where are you? I am getting tired of this." William shouted out, his bow and shield glinting in the moonlight. "This game of hide and seek is becoming more dull with every passing moment..."

"Then let's spice it up for you!" Jumping up from the shipping container he was on, Touma attempted to do an overhead attack on the unsuspecting William. Surprised, he used his shield as a barrier between him and the airborne boy. Unfortunately, he had forgotten he was holding a magic item. And the results was pretty obvious.

With the usual sound of breaking glass, Touma destroyed the wisdom goddess's famed shield lookalike, leaving behind a leather strap and a piece of wood attached. Recovering from his attack, Touma rolled forwards before leaping up with his agility, avoiding a hit with the metal rails that were scattered all over the switch yard.

"Gafuh!?!" With a sputtering sound, William ate gravel. With the sudden weight loss from the destruction of his shield caused and Touma's jump, his centre of balance was suddenly shifted, causing the man to fall over from the compensation from before to keep himself upright.

Scrambling, William let loose a few arrows from his bow in his sitting position. Despite the fact that the string was not pulled back much, the arrows flew fast and hard. Had Touma not done his last leap, he would have been hit. As it was, the arrows barely flew past the boy's body, instead landing nearly a few inches from the exposed(or clothed) body or limbs of his.

With an almost artistic backflip, Touma landed on his feet once more, before he charged at the still downed William.

Face paling slightly, William rolled away, using his momentum to bring him into a kneeling situation. One of his trump cards, the shield, was destroyed. Although he could make another one, the process was long and hard, involving sleepless nights, and many sacrifices of the animal kind. Human lives worked best, but as long as his apprentice was with him, he would do no killings unnecessarily. And the creation of his new shield was considered unnecessary. His bow was a regular one, if slightly longer than the average one commonly used. Despite its power, it was obviously not suited for close range combat. Which left...

* * *

Yes!" Touma was excited. This fight(or duel. He could not tell now.) was about to end soon. Once he was done, he would call Tsuchimikado for help on taking William away.

A chill suddenly went down his spine. _"Huh?" _Time seemed to slow down for Touma. _"What is this sense of foreboding? It feels like...when someone walks over your grave!"_ Sensing the danger, Touma immediately redirected his body. Twisting it to the side, his body was now facing perpendicular to the ground instead of at a 50-degree angle parallel to the ground.

***Stchnt***

With a sharp sound, where Touma's body had been moments before, was a spire of earth, its point sharpened to pierce things. Lightning rained around Touma when the spike appeared, forcing him to raise his right hand to negate the esper made lightning strikes. The sheer power behind each strike managed to destroy the earthen spire, but Imagine Breaker protected Touma.

**"Alpha and Omega."**

Curling himself up, Touma used the momentum from his earlier spint and rolled a fair distance away. He looked back at William as he stood back up, hand ready to defend from magic attacks. What he saw stunned him. From their hiding place, Mikoto gasped at the sight, while Othinus hummed, deep in thought.

William had spoken. His cloak was now ripped in several places, barely held up by two straps. What lay underneath was a set of armour. Despite its metallic appearance, it did not glint under the bright moonlight, nor did it make a single sound despite his movements. Slung across his back was the bow. Now, however, a two pronged spear was held in his hand. Its prongs seemed to be made of a crystaline material, most like a form of mineral. The shaft was made of metal, gems dotting the surface of it here and there. Despite it seemingly rough surface, William handled it fine, twirling the spear in his left hand freely. But what surprised the two were not these new things on him. Instead, it was what was around him.

Surrounding William in a 3 metre radius, spikes of differing lengths and sizes were spread out, sticking out of the ground as if someone had decided to poke the earth from below. Beyond and inside this circle, fires blazed unchecked. However, these flames seemed to not hurt the magician. Instead, the stangely coloured flames seemed to act as a barrier, protecting the caster from harm.

"I am truly sorry, Imagine Breaker." Breaking into a grin, William stabbed the spear like weapon into the ground, prongs facing upwards. "It would seem that this little duel of ours has ended."

* * *

**AN**

**Well, new chapter for all!**

**This chapter was kinda hard for me, seeing as this is my first fight scene. Hopefully, it is good enough, and that future ones would be better.** **T****his one took a shorter time, but content wise, ain't much. I honestly have no clue on how to do this. I already want the fight scene at night, but seeing as there is not only a curfew, but also because I had already sent Mikoto back to her dorm. Kuroko is easier, as she can actually bluff her way with work. And as the only other member is away...**

**Well, this is the end of a new chapter. See you next time! And more readers, please review, follow and favourite my story ;)**


	5. Myths and Legends

_"italics" _\- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold _**\- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Myth and Legends

"It would seem this duel of ours has ended." Chuckling, William swept his two pronged spear in an arc in front of him. In response, the spikes that were within the range of the arc moved themselves to the sides, leaving an empty field that was in the shape of the swept arc.

Noticing their gazes(or rather, Touma's) on the unusual spear, William gave a hearty laugh. "Ha ha ha! I suppose you have many questions, Imagine Breaker. Of course, you may ask away. But! Would you have the presence of mind to do so?"

With that sentence, William **leapt** at Touma, closing the 10 metre or so distance between them in what seemed to be an instant.

_"He's fast!"_ Unknowingly, Touma and Mikoto had mirrored each other thoughts at the same time. Surprised by the sudden jump, Touma fell backwards, the sudden displacement of air not helping him with his sudden shift in balance.

It turned out to be a good thing. Seconds after his head was forcefully lowered, Touma felt his spiky hair get sliced. The result: a small portion of his hair fell into his lap.

"Whoops!" In a carefree tone, William used the butt of the spear to whack Touma away, using the unused speed from his earlier lunge to instead whack the unfortunate Kamijou away and into an empty shipping container. Feeling his body go weightless for a second, Touma crashed into the container, denting the metal box. This also caused him to spit out much blood.

***Blurgh***

With a spitting sound, Touma choked out some blood. Dazed, Touma wiped the dribbling blood from his mouth and nose, clearing his airways a bit.

_"Thank goodness I skipped dinner."_ Touma could not help but think that as he wiped the blood. And who could blame him? Right now, as his stomach was empty, he would only vomit gastric fluids and blood, which was a whole lot less difficult to clean from clothes then vomit, or vomit mixed with blood. Then again, vomiting blood was not a good sign for the human body.

"Touma!"

Shouting, Mikoto fired off a few arcs of electricity at William. Spinning his spear-like weapon, William created a wall of stone from the ground, momentarily obstructing his view of both Touma and Mikoto.

With practiced ease, Mikoto leapt from her hidden perch, not forgetting to take Othinus with her. Using her powers, she guided herself onto the ground safely, where she proceeded to run towards William with the intent of buying time. Running past the downed Touma, she threw Othinus at his fallen body after a split second's hesitation, already tuning out the wave of complaints by Othinus that headed her way.

Mikoto knew Touma's fighting style. She managed to get a basic understanding of it after all their past fights, and finally managed to confirm it after their battle in Denmark and their talks up till now.

Touma left it to his body's instinct most of the time during combat, as past experiences, both from before and after his memory was lost(destroyed being a better word), has honed his body to be able to fight espers and magicians alike.

As he fights, he prefers to out-think his opponent, finding ways to overcome obstacles through quick thinking and his knowledge on their powers. However, this style of fighting for Touma, despite fitting the boy himself to a T, was very harsh on his body, as most of the time, his body would get very beat up before he gained a very good grasp on their powers or abilities, and found a way to counter it, even if it is temporary.

_"So, this time,"_ Mikoto mentally prepared herself for battle against the magician._ "Take a breather, and let me gather the information for you!"_

"Oho?" Collapsing the earthen wall, William pointed his weapon at Mikoto. "So you have finally come out, little girl. Despite your age, your tastes are rather... childish, no?"

_"Calm down, Mikoto. He is just trying to rile you up." _Taking a deep breath, Mikoto calmed herself. She knew if she let her emotions rule in her battles, she would be dead. "I thought this was a duel? Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Fufufu... That was in the past." Stepping forward, he closed the distance between him and Mikoto in seconds. "And right now, I wish to go grow stronger! Strong enough to take my revenge!"

Surprised by the sudden short distance between them, Mikoto used her powers to get away from the magician, sending bolts of electricity at the man as she retreated. Not deterred in the slightest, William used the prongs to parry the arcs of electricity.

"Hmm?" William paused in his movements. "I see Imagine Breaker is awake. And I have been sensing your gaze on this weapon of mine, little girl. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you about this prized weapon of mine. Seeing as you would all be **dead**."

Spinning the weapon, he sent waves of spikes at both Touma and Mikoto. Seeing the spikes approaching, Touma used his right hand to destroy them before they could pierce him, while Mikoto used her powers to create multiple iron sand swords, their constant vibrations easily cutting the spikes that went her way.

As the two held off the waves of spikes, William explained. "This weapon is called a bident. Its similar to a trident, the weapon that can be associated with Poseidon, greek god of the seas, but instead of three points, it has two. As such, this weapon can be associated with the greek god of the Underworld, Hades. See, Hades was mainly known for being the ruler of the Underworld, where spirits went to when their human life has passed. But, what people forget sometimes is that Hades was also the god of riches. And, as the Underworld is under the earth..." He dashed forward to where Mikoto was. "...it would not be a stretch to say he could **control part of the earth**."

Mikoto was having a harder time than Touma in holding off the wave of spikes. While Touma had to just hold his hand onto the ground to prevent them from appearing near him, Mikoto had to use her iron sand blades to mow the spikes to pieces to ensure none came close to her. And, as she did not have a somewhat omnidirectional defense like Touma, the spikes came at her from a 270 degree attack range, so she was hard pressed just to keep herself unscathed.

When the waves stopped, it gave Mikoto some breathing room, but she was forced into defense almost immediately again when William came rushing in. Thrusting the bident quickly, the weapon itself quickly became a blur, the user moving it at high speeds. Mikoto was able to defend herself from the attacks, if barely, leaving her little room to go on the offensive.

But when the barrage **did **stop, and Mikoto did go on the offensive, each of her strikes were parried or dodged. And each time her iron sword came into contact with the bident, it became smaller each time.

_"This is not good." _A bead of sweat went down Mikoto's face. _"That bident of his keeps removing a small bit of my iron sand each time. Each strike is not much, only about a few milligrams each time, but the sheer number of strikes he throws out between each breather he takes is so much, the blades noticeably becomes smaller."_

"Tch" Clicking her tongue, Mikoto quickly retreated backwards with her power. Grinning broadly, William advanced, using the power of the bident to help increase his speed with every step.

* * *

As Touma watched the two, he noticed a few things. Of course, this would not have happened had Othinus not grasped Mikoto's plan and forcefully got Touma to rest a little, through some rather...forceful means.

_"So, the bident represents the weapon that a greek god of the Underworld used."_ Touma thought as he quietly moved towards the duo who were running all over the switch yard, seemingly playing a game of cat and mouse. _"And as the Underworld is below our feet, he can somewhat control the earth. But, if he could, why not create spires at where we stand, instead of making them come at us in waves? Plus," _Looking at the spikes, Touma ran his hand across it. _"The spires themselves can't be destroyed once they appear. So it would make the bident something like Curtana Original, which using the All Dimensions Severing Spell, created dimensional debris that Imagine Breaker can't dispel. Thankfully, it is easier to prevent this just by holding it to the ground."_ Starting to run, he dashed to the now clashing duo. _"In that case, it would be best to remove source of this mayhem. Otherwise, this may result in something like a second British Halloween!"_

This might have been an overexageration in Touma's mind, but a small part of him, his gut, told him that this was actually true. But there was a few things that troubled him...

"Misaka-san!" Touma jumped into the fray at that moment, causing both parties to be momentarily surprised. "Fire it!"

"Huh? What do you mean Idiot! Wouldn't that kill him?" Mikoto used her iron blades to make William's footing uneven, causing him to lose his focus in his precision attacks. Taking that chance, Touma smashed his fist into William's chest. Seeing the incoming fist, William's eyes widen comically as he tried to avoid it.

He managed to do so, but not completely. As it was, a portion of his shoulder pads were destroyed, the breaking glass sound and momentary burst of light the only evidence that it even existed in the first place.

Having avoided that attack, William moved retreated, the possibility of his magical weapon and armour being completely destroyed too great a chance for him to take, even if he could take down the misfortunate boy and, later on, the electromaster. After all, it would be no joke for one's prized possessions were destroyed because of a simple touch.

"Just trust me on this!" Touma used his legs to kick the kneeling William. Instinctively crossing his arms, William weathered most of the blow. Or would have, had he not been kneeling in a certain section of the switch yard.

When Touma and Accelerator first clashed, their battlefield turned a part of the switch yard into a barren wasteland due to the destruction that had occurred. It may have been nearly half a year since then, but with World War 3 and other incidents that occurred, resources were sent to other places with higher priority then a place where a failed experiment occured. It also became a place for espers to test out their abilities. Despite the low numbers, not even reaching a dozen, their abilities further messed up that particular area of the switch yard, so much so, that a small protion of the gravel and metal had melted into a smooth, wave-like surface due to the multiple heating, cooling and other things that it was forced to endure. And currently, William was on that patch.

William could not stop his body as he was suddenly accelerated from the kick Touma launched at him. If it was just gravel, he would have only flown about a few metres at most. But, as the smooth surface had little friction, his body sped up, and was launched from one of the 'waves', essentially turning him into a human projectile, which forcefully collided against one of the few remaining undamaged shipping containers in that area.

"Fine! I hope you know what you are doing!" Preparing herself, she fired her signature move, the Railgun.

Normally, she would not even **think** of firing it at a person(unless said person was a level 5 esper, or Touma), as the railgun, despite the projectile being a coin, had a velocity of around 1030m/s, so anyone who gets grazed by the attack, never mind a clean hit, would have that part if their body blown clean off. But, Touma's instincts were spot on most of the time. This is proven by his fight with her, other espers, magicians, and even fellow level 0s like him. So, for the very first time, she fired a railgun at a magician.

* * *

William was a little winded, but fine nonetheless. His armour was very special, also based off Athena's Aegis. But this Aegis referred to the goddess's mantle. By creating this symbolised cloth, and weaving it into his armour, it in turn made the armour very tough to destroy, protecting the wearer while making it comfortable to wear as well. But, as he looked up from his kneeling position, he saw a beam of orange light approaching him, closing the short distance between the two espers and him in less than a second.

As he saw this, he only uttered a word before the light impacted him, causing both him and his surrounding area to be enveloped in a huge explosion of dust.

"Γαμώ" (Fuck)

* * *

"Did we get him?" Touma was panting in exhaustion. He had already expended a lot of his energy earlier that day, running from his place to the closest bus stop, then was smashed into a shipping container, which winded him. All in all, this would have already killed an ordinary student because of the lack of energy and stamina to actually fight. But Touma was very proud of his stamina, having gained it from his countless fights and runs away from danger(AKA, Biribiri and magic). Even then, he needed to take a breather, the fight exhausting the remaining energy he had.

Turning to him, Mikoto could not help but let out a shout. "Why are you asking me for? You were the one who asked me to do this!" She was, in a word, shocked. To think Touma had asked her to fire her railgun at him without knowing if it would kill him!

"No no no no no Misaka-san!" Waving his hands frantically, Touma tried to calm the furious Mikoto. "I know that he would have been able to take it! He had armour on! And it was magical armour!"

"So?" That did nothing to calm Mikoto. In fact, it seemed to make her even more angry. "That does not mean he can take it **head on!**"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Sudden, booming laughter brought the two arguing students back out of their own world. Touma sighed, having suspected that he would not have gone down that easily.

**_"Thrylos201, the one who brings legends to life!"_**

Roaring his magic name, William burst out from the cloud of smoke. Landing heavily on his feet, the two could properly see the aftermath of Mikoto's railgun. William's hair was disheveled, which was expected from having been attacked by a fast travelling object at what could be considered point-blank range(for a destructive weapon, that is). A black impact point could be seen on the bronze-coloured armour, showing the two that he had taken Mikoto's railgun head on. Other than that, he seemed no worse for wear.

_"How?" _Mikoto was dumbfounded. After all, as far as she knew, only less than a handful of people could take her railgun head-on, and that was in the Science side. If she included the Magic side, it would rise to around two dozen. And they were all special cases, having the power of a Level 5. Even if she had lowered the output of her attack to around 20%, she was not expecting the magician to be conscious, much less standing, after her railgun, which had the power to destroy many tanks lined up, even with the power lowered.

"Well now, Imagine Breaker. I believe you know what this means." Grinning like a maniac, William held his bident up high, before stabbing it downwards, the dual prongs stabbing into the concrete surface he was on like a hot knife through butter.

Mikoto was sweating bullets. She had heard from both Othinus and Touma. Having a magic name represents the goal of that individual. But, during a fight, if one's magic name was announced, it would mean they were becoming serious. Beside her, Touma composed himself, preparing himself for what was to come. Truth was, none of them could.

A skeletal hand burst from the gravel, shocking the two. Then another, and another, and another ,another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another, another!

_"One, three, seven, fifteen, twenty...There's too many!" _Stepping back, Touma and Mikoto could only watch as what could be only classified as an army rose from the ground. The skeletal hands literally dragged their bodies from their 'graves', bringing with them tattered armour, chipped weapons, and for some, degraded bows and arrows. As they watched in stunned silence, mud ran up their bones, gems stuck here and there in the brown mess. The mud covered each bone, acting as a substitute for flesh. Where the eyeballs were, two gems were placed. Some were of different sizes, others of different colours. But nevertheless, they acted as what they should be. Eyes to see the enemy.

Seeing their stunned faces, William gave off a laugh. To them, it sounded like a villainous one. "This is the end, boys and girls!" Still cackling, William grinned maliciously at them. "Meet your end, at the hands of my **_Undead Legion_** !"

* * *

Far away, in their apartment, Index sensed the sudden increase in mana.

"Hmm?" Index looked at the direction of the mana flow. "That mana flow, that spell...By all rights, this should be impossible!" Standing up, she dashed out of the room, making her way to Touma's location via the flow of mana. "That spell can only be used through a grimoire!" Muttering to herself, Index took a the elevator down. "And that particular grimoire was destroyed by all the churches, having been deemed too dangerous and too sinful for any magician to use."

Continuing to mutter, Index ran towards the source, worried for Touma's safety. "But, there is no mistaking it. That spell is definitely being used. And there should be no way for this spell to be activated, much less used, by a magician, even with artifacts. Unless..."

* * *

"Impossible..." Othinus muttered in shock, catching the two's attention.

"What's impossible, Othinus?" Touma kept his eyes on the army of skeletons. Right now, they were still taking shape, only being vaguely human like. But with every passing second, their shapes became a little bit more defined, their movements more refined. Their previously chipped weapons were coated in mud and minerals, before they hardened, becoming heavier and sharper than its previous condition. Similarly, their shoddy armour became sturdier, the liquid gems and minerals coating the tattered pieces of leather or metal, making it harder, stronger, and thicker than before. Mud than coated it and hardened, becoming camouflaged against the mound of earth, mud and gravel that was the body of the skeletons.

"This spell... By all means, this should not be possible by any mage." Glaring at William, Othinus seemed to emit a wave of hostility. "Normally, mages who are necromancers. First, they need bodies. Usually, they are made of clay or stone. Second, they need a soul. In this time, they would be pseudo souls, which is the speciality of the Rosenthal Family."

"I suppose your friend Sherry Cromwell is the closest person to being a necromancer. But, she is not a necromancer. I believe that someone in your faction has a connection to the Rosenthal Family, but I am unable to recall who."

"How do you know this? Or rather, why is this impossible?" Touma chose to ignore the bit about 'having a faction'.

"They have no souls, yet they are not puppets." Othinus clicked her tongue in irritation. "They can each follow orders and adapt, unlike puppets which are only able to follow orders to a certain degree. This is taking things to the level of a Magic God, or even beyond that."

A Magic God. Touma shivered in fear as he recalled the time he fought Othinus. Magic Gods were beings who were all powerful. Thor was, thankfully, a magician. But he was a very powerful one. Ollerous, who was a failed Magic God, was still very powerful. But none of them could hold a candle to Othinus. With her vast power and knowledge, she could, and managed, to bend the world to her will.Not once, not twice, but at least 10,000 times. Touma lost count after 1,000. For William to actual step into the realm of Magic God...it sent shivers up his spine. He **never** wanted to go through that experience again if he could help it.

As he thought about it, he could see why Othinus was pissed. If someone could attain the status of a Magic God, there would be countless ones already wandering the earth. Unbeknownst to Touma, said Magic Gods sneezed in sync, causing them to cease their plotting and plans for a moment, before they went ahead with their business, wondering who had talked about them.

"...You poor human." Suddenly, Othinus changed her attitude from anger to pity.

"Hmm?" Touma looked at Othinus, who was currently sitting on his soldier.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Beside him, Mikoto gave a snarky comment at Othinus's change in tone.

Ignoring the brown-haired girl, Othinus answered Touma's unspoken question. "This human is but a walking lump of meat. His mind has long broken. But, the person himself has not noticed this."

"But he can still speak!" Touma was confused even further. "How is he crazy?"

"Not crazy, dead." Othinus's speech was different from her usual conceding tone. In fact, it seemed to be...one of pity. Completely unlike the god(or goddess?) of war she was. "He does not know it, but he is dead. He may seem to be alive. Eating, speaking, and moving. However, mentally, he has died long ago. The person known as William Jackson has been dead for a while. Probably 50 years."

"But...he looks so young..." Mikoto joined in. As there were metal bits in the skeletons, she could tell when they were about to attack. As such, she would be able to hold them back via their bodies, armour or weapons through her electromaster abilities.

"That is but a husk of a man. He is, as you would say, brain dead." Othinus continued to ignore Mikoto. "And, it would seem a grimoire is occupying this man's body, and has taken control."

"A grimoire?" Touma thought of the one person he knew to hold many grimories in her head. Index. One grimoire alone could kill a man due to its potent knowledge. To hold the 103,000 grimoires in her head would have killed a regular person long ago. But Index was immune to this, apparently. Hence, she was forced to read 103,000 grimoires and hold it in her head for Necessarius. If there was a sentient grimoire, it could, theoretically, take over a mind.

"Indeed." Jumping, they looked behind them, There, the armoured person that had guided them stood. In fact, they had forgotten he was acting as the referee for the duel. Now that he was closer, the three could pick up more details. The armour, despite its Western appearance, seemed to be a fusion of Western and Asian armour.

His legs down seemed to be the standard knight boots. But, from his lower body up, it could be seen to be a fusion. His upper chest was plated armour, but a smaller version of sode(japanese shoulder pads), slightly curved, covered his shoulders instead of the western version of shoulder pads. Western gauntlets covered his hands, but instead of being made of metal, it seemed to be made of a cloth, similar to those used in asian armours. And his headpiece seemed to be a mixture of Japanese and Western. A half mask covered his mouth, but his headpiece was similar to the ones that were worn by the Knights in Britain when Touma was with the Royal family, with a visor covering his eyes, while the mask covered up till his nose.

"My liege has been brain dead for a long time." He said, speaking in an emotionless tone. "And you, Imagine Breaker, is the only person who can save him."

* * *

**AN**

**Well, that is another chapter done. Too much research for my taste. But, if you are wondering about this, yes, it is possible for a grimoire to take over a person's mind**

**A grimoire, when taken literally, is a book about magical texts, or a book that has ancient knowledge. As there is many, many different forms of knowledge, it would not be too far a stretch to say that this knowledge can come in the form of something like an artificial intelligence. A good example of this would be Index's John's Pen Mode.****Although John's Pen Mode is a security measure, it is nonetheless an entity which has the ability to react to real life changes and adapt to it, something similar to an A.I. (To me anyway.). It can be considered an advanced Security Program under the Church's control.****Then, there is the weapon.**

**Who here saw that is would be the weapon of the lord of the Underworld himself? I thought about the different weapons William could have used. Zeus with his lightning bolt, Poseidon with his trident and control of water, a sword that can control the winds under the god Aeolous, Hermes with his blade that can cut anything, Gaia with her control over the earth, Kronos with his iron scythe that once killed his father, and finally, a hammer that could create and manipulate machines and fire, representing the god ****Hephaestus.**

**And for those who are wondering, Misaki is coming. Not yet though. I put her tag up cause she is an underrated character, I feel. After all, out of all of Touma's crushers, Misaki is the one who actually lost a lot in return for his help. **


	6. Friends and Foes

_"italics" _\- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

Chapter 5 :Friends and Foes

"Brain dead?" Touma clenched his fist. "Who are you to decide that?"

"I'm sorry if I come a bit insensitive to you two, especially since he brought me here. My liege...since I am talking to you about this situation, I should stop calling him that, I suppose." Stepping forward, he walked past the two espers. "William Jackson was a person I encountered during my travels. When I first found him, his mind had not been completely destroyed. You were correct, by the way."

Turning his head, their guide/referee looked at Othinus. "William's body has been taken host by that grimoire you mentioned. And, said grimoire has been already destroyed. However, that grimoire was different from other grimoires, in the sense that it acts like a parasite. The 'knowledge' in this particular grimoire deals with necromancy, but the main purpose is the survival of the Will known as Death."

"Hmm...So this, entity, is called Death?" Othinus looked at the army, focusing on its commander, 'William'.

"That would be what he is commonly known as. In fact, it is a person attempting to be the greek god of death known as Thanatos." Their guide spoke in a sad tone. "This human tried to be a personification of the Death God, but ultimately, his mind before he was able to complete a spell. His back-up, the grimoire that was destroyed, worked a little too well. Not only did his conscious get transferred, his power also ended up stabilising, making him even more dangerous..."

"When I met William, a fragement of his sanity still remained. He and I travelled to Acdademy City, here, in his last moments, to ensure the complete destruction of the grimoire he had the unfortunate fate of stumbling across. Alomg the way, he talked about how he came across this grimoire, and its true nature, which ultimately led to its destruction."

"So, we're killing a God?" Mikoto asked, readying herself for battle. She had noticed that most of the soldiers were fully defined and combat ready. She estimated they had minutes at best before they attacked. She could handle maybe 5 or 6, but not 20 at once. And the army itself had numbers in the hundreds. Touma could possibly destroy them with a simple touch, but with their sheer number, he would be killed before he can finish them off.

"Correction. Something that attempted to be the incarnation of Thanatos." Their guide corrected Mikoto.

A sudden roaring caused the two espers, one Magic God, and one guide/apprentice/referee to look at the army. It seemed that all of the skeletons had finished their 'upgrades'. Mud covered almost their entire frame and weaponry. But that did nothing to disguise how dangerous they were. Their brown weapons looked heavy, their earlier rusted, chipped appearance leagues different from their now imposing, lethal look. Their armour too, despite being the same colour as their bodies, could be clearly seen. Upon closer inspection, they had similar designs as Greek Armour, complete with the domed skull and wide, flaring, down-sloping brim(see Boetian helmet)

Removing his cloak, he wrapped it up in his left arm. "Kamijou Touma. You and I will be the vanguard. Misaka Mikoto will be the rearguard, as her multiple blades would be good to help prevent these warriors from hindering our progress. Imagine Breaker may not work completely on these foes, so try to keep up, Kamijou-san."

Taking a few steps, he started to move towards the army, before he ran ahead in a full sprint. Taking that as a signal, the opposing army rushed forwards with a roar.

_"Damn it!" _Dashing forwards, Touma ran after the seemingly reckless guide of theirs. _"Even if you know how to fight them, don't act in the heat of the moment and try to act cool, you damn idiot! You will die for sure!" _Unknowingly, Touma also insulted himself as he insulted their guide.

"Oi!" Touma ran, trying to keep up with their guide. Despite the somewhat short distance between them and the army, they had a bit of time on their hands. Although the enemy was charging full-steam ahead, they were going no faster than a small kid of 3 years trying to run. "Stop!" Touma grabbed onto the shoulder of the guide. "You said Jackson-san wanted me to destroy that grimoire, right? Then let me do it!" Touma stared at the guide's eyes(or where his eyes were supposed to be).

"Heh. Sure thing, Kamijou-san. And call me Percival." Percival let out a small laugh. Behind him, Touma could hear Mikoto catching up, a little surprised by the sudden dash Pervival had made. "This was just an incentive to get you started."

What happened in the next hour would cause Touma to have a new view on the world. Similarly, all around the world, people sensed the sudden burst of energy, causing the effect more commonly known as the 'butterfly effect'. What should have never happened, happened. What is impossible, became possible. What would have occurred in the far future, occured earlier. Much earlier.

* * *

In his tank, Aleister Crowley who sensed this disturbance first tried to gather information on the phenomenon that occurred. However, he would ultimately fail. For the first time, the UNDER_LINE Network that served as Aleister Crowley's information network was unable to gather data on that particular day, forcing Crowley to revamp his network. This would later come back to bite the originator of the disturbance, but that was for the future.

* * *

In her bathtub, Laura Stuart paused in her daily scheming, sensing the sudden foreboding pressure that was released in Academy City. She would later on forget about this pressure, for she was assaulted by Stiyl Magnus minutes later when he discovered some new information that came to light regarding Index and Imagine Breaker.

* * *

And Index, who had managed to get a bus to the location of the mana spike she felt earlier, hurried even more when she felt a strange disturbance in the air. She was already panicking because of the impossibility of **that** grimoire somehow surviving its destruction. But, when she felt the disturbance originate from a position close to the mana spike, she ran out, not caring that her beloved cat was no longer with her. Sphynx, despite his attempts, was forced to run on the ground.

Despite his displeasure in having to walk, the young cat knew that something was amiss, having sensed his master's discomfort and uneasy state of mind, leaving his master's side, giving her no distractions whatsoever.

* * *

A brown **thing** falling at high speeds towards his head caused Touma to remeber the fact that there was an **army **in front of him.

_"Shit!" _Touma swiftly moved backwards, but knew it would not be good enough. Out of the corners of his eyes, he could see that he was slowly being surrounded. Contrary to their slow movement speed, it seemed that the warriors were very fast when attacking. _"I can dodge this, but the arrows at the back of the army would take me down before I can negate them with Imagine Breaker! And even if I did negate them, all it would remove is the mud covering the degraded arrow, provided the arrow itself is made of magic!"_

**_"Munio057: Mimicry!_"** Beside him, Percival spoke what he assumed to be his magic name. It also seemed to be a trigger. His wrapped up cloak turned into a shield in-front of his very eyes. Despite his experience with magic, Touma was still surprised. Behind him, Mikoto's eyes widened in wonderment at the changing of the cloak to a shield. _"So magic can do this type of things too."_Having moved to Mikoto's shoulder so as to not hinder Touma, Othinus was the only one who was frowning.at the display. _"It seems similar to that Birdway girl's wand, but it seems...different. Not only that, but the flow of mana is...unusual...to say the least." _In the end, she decided to let it go. As a goddess of war, she was interested in Percival's fighting skills. But she did resolve to ask(more like interrogate) Percival abot his shield when she got the chance.

Othinus was not disappointed. "Ha!" With a swift movement, the shield blocked the incoming axe blow. Not only that, it caused the mud warrior to stumble slightly, having not expected a sudden force to block its attack.

**"Mimic ability. Name, Negation." **Suddenly, Percival spoke, the axe still locked against his shield. As Touma watched, a few arrows flew at the shield and Mikoto, while at the same time, two more weapons, a halberd and a sword this time, piled onto the shield.

While Mikoto was fine due to the whirling blades of iron sand, Percival proceeded to manouver himself such that the arrows would impact their allies instead. Said arrows, 3 in total, struck two of the mud warriors. But they did not seemed to have harmed them much. In fact, as Touma watched, the three arrows were absorbed into the warriors. Within seconds, they were gone. Nevertheless, the act of avoiding the arrows attack was achieved, and the shield did not budge.

**"Incorporate ability into defensive equipment...confirmed."**

With a shout, Percival pushed the three weapons off him, before proceeding to destroy the three opposing warriors facing him. But Touma felt that the word 'destroy' was wrong. It looked more like...

_"Imagine Breaker__?" _Touma watched in stunned silence as he witnessed Percival bring down another warrior. _"Its negation rate is not as fast, nor as potent as my Imagine Breaker. But its definitely similar. Did he have that ability always? Or..."_"Hey!" Snapping out of his thoughts, Touma looked at Percival, who was beckoning him forwards. "You need to deal the decisive blow against Thanatos! So, stick close to me, while I help clear a path for you."

"Sorry!"

Moving forwards, he smashed his fist into another warrior. The effects were immediate. The warrior immediately lost all it 'upgrades', reverting back into the skeleton that was summoned earlier. It would seem that it was one of the few in better condition. As he watched, Mikoto's iron sand blades made quick work of the scarcely protected bones of the skeleton.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the hole that Percival had made begin to close up. Dashing forwards, he managed to make it through. Yet, it was the first obstacle for Touma. Dozens more warriors were approaching. Instead of the waved pincer form from earlier, this time, they had assmeed themselves into varying formations. The first one Touma recognised, having a distant memory of seeing it once during his stay in the 'Infinite Hells of Othinus.'

A phalanx. But in place of the shields, varying weapons jutted out, creating the impression of a sea urchin instead of a porcupine.

While Percival used his shield to smash the weapons to pieces, Touma used his hand to quickly reduce their defence, the mud and gems sliding off their skeletal frames like oil and water, before the mud seemed to evaporate, while the gems crumbled into dust.

As he moved on to the next wave, his earlier query was left unanswered.

_"Did he copy my ability? Or did he 'mimic' it, as he said earlier?_

* * *

It took a while, but the three of them managed to get to where Thanatos was. His armour had managed to fix itself, with some slight alterations. Instead of its rigid form earlier, it was now more like a flowing robe. The parts were now interlinked with each other, allowing for better movement. And on his back, two pitch black wings were now attached. When Thanatos saw the two espers and Percival, he smirked.

"I see you managed to get pass my army." Thanatos lazily spun his bident. "Although, there are quite a few of them left. If you aren't careful, you would end up like a pin-cushion, you know?" As he spun the weapon, the warriors began to reassemble themselves once more. The ones that were not touched by Touma slowly put themselves back together, bones knitting together and reforming a skeletal shape once again.

"Still, that does not mean you are invincible, my **liege.**" Percival spoke in a mocking tone. "After all, William knew it was a matter of time before he passed on. So he decided to leave a trap for you."

"A trap?" Thanatos did not seem disturbed in the slightest. "Do you mean the girl? I admit, I was not expecting her to shoot that...what is it called? A railgun? Not that it matters. It only served as the final attack that killed this body's original host. And Imagine Breaker would never finish me off! You should know, after all the research you did on him. He cannot kill people. And to him,** I am still a person!"**

Flapping his wings, he stirred up the the remains of the gems he had created. It may not have worked before, as there was only gravel around, but thanks to his warriors intuition, they positioned themselves such that when they fell, their 'remains' would go back to their master. Originally, they were meant to serve as the foundation to summon more warriors, but once Thanatos saw that his three opponents making a beeline towards him, and at a fast pace at that, he chose to lay a trap instead. By summoning his wings, he can manipulate the wind to form bindings with the disintegrated gems, restricting the three's movements and moves they could use.

For Touma, this was especially bad news. After all, his only weapon that was effective was his right hand. If it got locked in certain places, such as for example his elbow, he would immediately have a fixed attacking and defending zone. Without the ability to bend his elbow, there would be a higher chance if him getting killed or subdued by the warriors. Luckily, when his elbow was locked in place, it was bent slightly, so he could still attack and defend, albeit at a slower speed.

Mikoto was luckier compared to Touma. As she relied on her iron sand blades to attack and defend simultaneously, restricting her body would not prove too effective. However, she would be vulnerable to a large numbered attack.

See, there was a flaw with Mikoto's iron sand blade storm(method she was currently using). It was her speed when moving. As she needed most of her concentration to ensure that the multiple iron blades remained intact, as well as ensuring that no enemies got too close to her, while also defending attacking and defending simultaneously, she would have to move at a slow pace.

Compared to the two vanguards, it was a small difference in movement speed, but the fact was, the only reason she was so effective at cutting down the warriors was her moving about. Without her movement, she would have been swarmed by the enemy, and eventually, killed. This would be because as she focused only on attacking, she would not have enough concentration to defend against attacks from a distance. Right now, it was not a problem, but once the warriors recovered, they could reposition themselves and inflict damage on Mikoto via barrages of arrows. And, as these arrows were made of stone and wood, her powers as an electromaster would be unable to stop the arrows from hitting her, much less prevent them from getting near her.

As for Percival...

"Kh!"

...he was defending against attacks from Thanatos to his best ability. His movements, unlike the two espers, were not as restricted. For Touma, this was confusing. How was Percival still able to move?

The answer came from the enemy himself. "I see..." Thanatos hummed as he unleashed a barrage of thrusts. Thankfully, each thrust was not too fast, so they could be avoided. The main problem was the sheer power behind each attack. When Percival defended against a hit, a snapping sound could be heard, and he immediately retreated. Touma saw him cradling a broken finger.

"You armour is enchanted with some form of dispersion effect. So, when my gems tried to bind your limbs, it was immediately dispersed into its original form." Swinging it like a club, Thanatos tried to smash Percival. Said individual managed to avoid it. "But...this should not be possible. After all, there is only one Imagine Breaker. How could you-"

What Thanatos was about to say, Touma did not know, for in that moment, Percival struck.

* * *

As Thanatos attacked and talked, Percival had noted his movements. Out of the three of them, Percival had the lowest offensive ability. His power allowed him to use Touma's ability, but it was a degraded form of it. It did not have the original's negation speed, nor its potent negation power. At the end of the day, it was just a copy. An imitation.

But, Percival could move freely. And, he used it accordingly. When Thanatos just finished swinging yet another attack with the bident, it was then that Percival struck.

Using his shield, Percival smashed it into Thanatos's large frame. Normally, this would not have done much against him. But Percival' shield had the ability of negation. Just like Touma's hand.

**"YARGH!!!"**

Shouting, Thanatos tried to get away from the source of his pain. But he chose the wrong direction._"Out of the pan, and into the fire.__"_ Percival smirked as he saw where Thanatos had backed into.

When Touma saw that Thanatos was fleeing to where he was, he chose to wait. He knew that if he missed, he would be unable to get another chance like this. Plus, he had to do this. Mikoto and Percival could have easily done in Thanatos, but William had **asked **him to do the final blow. You could say it was for his pride.

It was not fancy. It was not dramatic. All Touma did was slap Thanatos's face as he ran to Touma. But the effects were brutally powerful from that one touch.

In that moment, Thanatos **screamed.** Dropping the bident, he backed away from both males, a purplish smoke rising from his body. As they watched, his wings, full of life at first, stopped moving mid-flap, before they started to crumble, turning into a fine dust.

All around them, the warriors too collapsed. The mud-covered ones froze up, before breaking up into tiny chunks of rock, while the skeletal ones just collapsed into a pile of bones, before those too withered away into dust.

"You may be right." Touma panted in slight exhaustion. "I cannot kill a person. But I can destroy you. After all, you are less of a person, and more of a parasite."

As they watched in almost perverse, trance like state, Thanatos's host body became thinner, his previously tan skin losing its colour and becoming a pasty white instead. The purple smoke had stopped emitting from William's now husk-like body. It drifted in the air for a moment, before it too dispersed like its creations before. Touma thought he heard something, but he brushed it off as a hallucination. Yet, he could not help but think, if it was not a hallucination, what did it mean?

**_"I...AM...ALL..."_**

* * *

"So, Percival." Stopping, Touma leveled a firm gaze at the back of his guide's head. Beside him, Mikoto looked at him as well, expecting answers. They had moved a fair distance away from the switchyard. It was well past midnight, but that was of no concern to wither students. Touma had no school the next day, and Mikoto was no stranger to having little to no sleep. She would be able to get the night the day without much trouble. "Who are you, exactly? A member of the Anglican Church? The Russian Orthodox Church? Or...are you a rogue magician too?"

The footsteps immediately stopped. Percival hummed, seemingly deep in thought.

"Who am I?" Percival mused. "Who am I indeed. I guess...you could say that I am a magician. Or, you could say I am an esper. Whichever is more convenient for you. After all, I do love mysteries. And I would like to keep some mysteries surrounding the individual called 'Percival' just that, a mystery."

"Answer the question." Mikoto gave off a few lightning arcs in warning, some even hitting the ground. One even hit the ground near Percival's foot, causing him to jump back. "We don't have all night."

"Technically, its morning." Percival cheerfully spoke. "And I guess I should give you some info on myself. Hmm...Ah!"

Snapping his fingers, Percival stopped moving. "Well, my full name is Percival Yurei. You can call me by my first name or last name, it dosen't matter to me. Second, I am technically both an esper and a magician. Well, the natural version of an esper, seeing as most espers in Academy City get their powers from drugs and all that. And if you want to know more...ask Uiharu-san, Kuroko-san, or Saten-san, Misaka-san."

"What do they have to do with this!" Mikoto flared up. "If you harmed them-"

"Oh no. I did no such thing!" Raising his hands, Percival tried to appease Mikoto. "All I did was prepare them for the future. Academy City is about to become a warzone. And it will not be pretty."

"Warzone?" Touma clenched his fist. It may not be perfect, nor the place where he was born, but Academy City was a place that he can safely call his home. "What do you mean?"

Percival said just two words, and Touma understood immediately.

"Magic Gods."

"Haven't you wondered why there has been too little trouble surrounding you lately, Kamijou-san?" Percival asked, looking at the two with a serious gaze. "You of all people should know about your misfortune. When your luck becomes too good, an event, or events, follow immediately that is bad, depending on the misfortune you 'stacked up'. And this time, its events that would have usually come at you one after the other."

"Usually?" Mikoto took note of the wording. "What do you mean by 'usually'?"

"Oh look at the time!" Percival attempted to leave. "Kamijou-san has to get back soon, otherwise his cranium would get a crack. And Misaka-san has to leave as well, or Kuroko would get suspicious and kill the ape, as she calls Kamijou-san. Ta ta! I shall meet you both later on at Josephs And bring your friends, Misaka-san. They need to know."

"Yurei-san!" Mikoto tried to grab Percival. At the last minute, he dodged. Running at full speed, he took off, leaving the two in the dust.

As they watched, Percival's form steadily shrunk, before it disappeared behind a corner. "Great. He left." Sighing, she lookes at Touma. "What do we do? Leave?"

"Guess so." Touma sighed. "And I better head back too. Otherwise Index would bite me. Such Misfortune."

"Heh. Alright Idiot. Go home." Mikoto started to walk off. "I should too, otherwise the dorm manager." Using her powers, she made her way back.

As Touma watched her leave, his heart beat a little faster as he recalled Mikoto's smiling face. _"Why am I feeling like this?" _Blushing slightly, Touma tried to shrug it off. _"Stop stop stop! This Kamijou-san wants a dorm manager onee-san! Not a 14 year old tomboy who challenges me to a duel every other week!"_

_"But..." _Touma walked back to his dorm. _"Then why am I acting like this?"_

* * *

**AN****GOD DAMN THIS IS PAINFUL**

**I mean, its real nice writing a fanfic and all, but the main problem is since I'm doing this on my phone, the spell check is pretty damn irritating as it would either a)not work, b)underline names which I need, or C) all of the above. Plus, when I delete a letter, chances are the words I just typed get deleted too. So...painful...**

**But since my laptop needs an upgrade, and since its more convenient, I might as well continue doing this on the phone.****Then, the next, more concerning issue. The story.**

**At first, this seems like "Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy, it would be a breeze!" , but after actually wrting and posting, the major speed bump is this:Character.**

**If the characters are too OP or too good, it would make for a rather predictable, and somewhat bland, story, with the only redeeming feature the plot. Conversely, if the Character stays true to the series, the plot is pretty much dead. So, there has to be a balance of these two aspects to ensure smooth sailing.****Plus, with this chapter out, I can finally have less stress on me, since I am working on the next chapter right now. Its hard to get all the elements I want in right now. I don't want to rush it, but cause school's starting, I kinda also have to.**

**So, as a way to keep me sane, I might make a section for answering reviews. Hence, the more reviews from people, the better, in a sense...**

**And big thanks to Mr. Questionmark! I really needed that review! Helped boost my confidence in my writing. But your review still stay the same as this story progresses? No clue, but I hope I can do better.****And for some readers, I know you are wondering about Misaki, since I listed her.It will take a few more chapters before I add her in. Hopefully, within 2. I wanna start on the dual Level 5 dynamics soon.**

**Plus, yes, there is a harem. No point hiding it. But it would be more of an end point. So the harem would be, at most, 2 girls for the start. Obviously, Mikoto and Misaki.****I will follow along the lines of the story Infinite Possibility in terms of plot line. Arc, own, Arc, own, Arc, own, that sort of thing.**

**And to get this out of the way, I would be skipping a lot of content from where the anime last stopped, to here and now. For reference...**

**Touma found by Birdway -- Touma fighting Othinus -- Othinus shrunk**

**Those are the things I focus on. As for the rest, I would either ignore or bring foward to now. So, for example, Baggage City Arc? Delete. Ichiransei Arc? Bring forward. And, there will be major spoilers ahead, so read the LN if u want to avoid them, then read this story.**

**And to close this, await for the next chapter, and Happy CNY!**


	7. State of affair

"italics" - thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**Italics Bold** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

Chapter 6: State of affair

"Such misfortune..."

It was a new day, but for the misfortunate Kamijou Touma, he did not feel refreshed. In fact, he felt even more exhausted.

His late night-early morning adventure could be summed up in a few words: Troubling, interesting, and painful.

As Touma made his way back home in a daze, he met up with Index, who was worried about him due to the unnatural mana spike. The cause, she explained, was because of a spell that could only be used through a grimoire. One that even Index was not allowed to touch, due to its rather dangerous nature. Literally. Thankfully, it had been safely disposed off a few decades back. Or so the records said. Touma, Index and Tsuchimikado now knew that the records were false, and the grimoire in question was actually hidden. And that now, it was destroyed for sure this time. But not without casualties.

Of course, when she found out about Mikoto's involvement, she immdeiately set to work on biting Touma's cranium for a minute or so, before she released her captive and left in a huff.

Her mood in the morning considerably lightened when Touma made breakfast, despite his tired state. Rice, eggs with chicken cutlet, a side of cold salad, and some miso soup.In fact, she was in such a good mood that she was fine with 'Short Hair', as she called Mikoto, knowing about the magic side, and having fought in a magic battle. She was rather intrigued by Percival. And for good reason. From what she heard, he had managed to use a power similar to Imagine Breaker, something that should have been impossible, seeing as Imagine Breaker is the only one of its kind.

"I want to come meet this Percival!" Index demanded this the minute Touma was about to step out the door. And nothing could change her mind.

* * *

That was when Touma realised the first problem.

* * *

"He never did say when to meet, did he?"

* * *

"Misaka-san, where are you taking us?"

Misaka Mikoto was not faring that much better compared to Touma. But, there were a few things that she had picked up.

One, when she returned, Kuroko was asleep, which was very unusual. She had expected her to be awake when she came back, as when Kuroko came back, she would have to sign in. And when she did so, she would have noticed that Mikoto was already in the dorm room. But when she entered the room, she would have noticed Mikoto was not in her bed when she did her customary hug(groping) of Mikoto.

And, if Kuroko noticed this, she would have stayed awake. Yet, she was sleeping when she came back into the dorm at nearly 2am in the morning. But, this can be chalked up to being exhausted from doing mountains of paperwork.

The second thing was how early they had woken up. Normally, Kuroko would have woken up at 6am, the same time as her, and be ready for the day's work and such. Yet, by the time Mikoto was awake, Kuroko was still asleep, indocating that Kuroko did something very tiring. But, this too can be chalked up to her doing the paperwork for Judgement.

The third, and final, thing that she noticed was her friends odd behaviour. Although they seemed fine on the surface, Kuroko, Ruiko and Kazari were acting strange. Twice now, she had caught Saten staring at the weather balloon that was floating in Academy City, while Kazari, the voice of reason for her friend, did the same thing.

And while they had talked, she felt that something was...off, like they had realised something huge and did not know what to do with the sudden realisation.

Turning her body, she looked at her three friends. "Did something happen? You three have been acting strange."

Ruiko, Kazari, and Kuroko stopped in their tracks. "Onee-sama, what do you mean? Strange how?"

"Yeah, Misaka-san! What do you mean? We are not acting out of the ordinary or anything. In fact, even if we are acting strange, you could say its because of this sudden change of plans!"

"Yeah! What Saten-san said!"

"Hmm..." Mikoto stared at the three. "They don't seem to be hiding anything..."

"I believe you." Mikoto finally spoke in a soft tone. Out of her line of sight, the three breathed a sigh of relief, tension leaving their bodies. "But that would be more believeable if you you had looked me int he eye when you said that."

Almost immediately, they stiffened up once more, cold sweat running down their backs.

"Not that it matters. When you feel like you are ready, you can tell me." Mikoto waved off her suspicions. _"Plus, if I tell them to spit it out, it would be hypocritical of me, seeing as I am keeping my Sisters a secret from them."_

"Anyway, let's just go in. We are here to meet up with someone. He requested that I bring you three with me."

"He?" Saten grinned devilishly, causing warning bells to sound in Mikoto's head. "Could it be...your boyfriend, Misaka-san? And is his name...Kamijou Touma?"

"Cough!" Mikoto choked on her saliva, not expecting that to come up. "H-h-how did you come to that conclusion, Saten-san? A-an-and how do you know about the i-idiot!" Out of all the things she had expected, she did not expect Touma's name to be brought up in this conversation.

Suddenly, a dense, malicious aura erupted from between the two Sakugawa Middle School girls. Mikoto, who had exepcted this response, could only sight and facepalm in defeat. "And her comes Kuroko's breakdown."

"Must...kill...the...ape...Cannot...defile **ONEE-SAMA**!!!!!!" Kuroko roared out, grabbing her spikes from the belt she kept on her at all times. In response, her aura became even more bloodthirsty, her twin pigtails standing up in her pure rage.

"Calm down, Kuroko." Mikoto zapped Kuroko with her electricity. The voltage was more than a zapper, but it was less than the usual amount that she shocked Kuroko with, just enough to knock her out of her bloodthirsty state. "We are meeting up with Touma, yes. But, that is not the person we are meeting. In fact, its someone we met recently. So, calm down."

Ignoring her roommate for now, she entered Joseph. Tentaitively, her three friends followed, after ensuring that Kuroko would not fly into a rage anytime soon.

* * *

"Yo! Misaka-san!"

The three followed the source of the voice who had called out to them. There, they saw a youth, about Mikoto's age, maybe older. He had greyish-blonde hair, but his eyes were brown. But what stood out to the four of them was his wrist. His left wrist had a metal band covering his entire forearm. There was nothing on it at all, just a smooth metal band.

Mikoto had to take a while to process what she was seeing. "...Yurei-san?"

"Ah ha ha..." smiling abashedly, the now identified Percival scratched his cheek with his left hand, as Mikoto and her friends made their way to the seated boy. "I forgot to tell you about the time to meet, so I decided to eat here for the entire day while saving a seat for all of you."

"And we are going to wait for the Idiot?" Mikoto took a seat after a moments pause, something that her three friends also did. The way that Mikoto said the word 'Idiot' caused Kuroko to immediately become bloodthirsty, linking it to the only person that she knew Mikoto cared for a lot. Kamijou Touma.

"**Must...Kill...the...****AP-**ouch!" Kuroko's rant was cut short by Mikoto smashing her fist into her best friend's head.

Pouting, Kuroko looked at Mikoto. "Onee-sama, why did you do that?"

"Your disturbing the customers." The simple reply came. As Kuroko took a quick glance around, she realised that Mikoto was right. Her bloodlust was unlike any one of her previous ones. In fact, it was so large and dense, the customers swore that they saw a purplish haze outline the 13 year old teleporter.

_"Must be because of what Saten-san said earlier..." _Mikoto sweatdropped a little at the response of feeling Kuroko's bloodlust.

"Ah..." Kuroko was slightly embarrassed. Normally, Kuroko would not be too bothered by attention on her. But, this time was different. She had nearly caused an incident in public, in a restaurant, for no reason that could be seen by the people around her.

Luckily for her, all the attention was put off her with the entrance of a certain boy.

***Crash***

"Such misfortune..."

"That phrase..." Looking behind her, Mikoto looked for Touma. What she found, she did not expect.(Kinda)

Index was looking at Touma from the side, clad in her usual white and gold nun outfit. Mikoto assumed that Othinus was under the nun's hood. She knew that the tiny Mgaic God would take any chance to get out of the one-room student apartement. Who knew that a young cat would be the most effective enemy against a goddess that once tried to(and successfully, unknown to many) destroy the world.

But the real eye-catcher was the man of misfortune himself, Kamijou Touma. As usual, his misfortune had struck. But whether it was at a misfortunate time or not remained to be seen.

The spiky-haired boy was covered in the remains of what was once perfectly good food. Pieces of noodles and chunks of meat and vegetables were all over the spiky haired teen's head and shoulders. In his lap was a plate, possibly what had held the food.

The person who had caused this was a young man, who was, like Touma, lying on his back.

Apparantly, when the man was serving food, he had unexpectedly slipped on some spilled water and food bits. Normally, these spills would have been cleared up quickly by some staff member, but as it so happened, today was a day where the place was a little short staffed. When the man slipped, the food in his hands were flung into the air, and landed on the unfortunate Kamijou.

The sudden impact from the plate of food knocked over Touma, causing his head to collide with the door, which had been left open.

Seeing the plate fall in front of his very eyes, Touma tried to catch the plate before it broke. Knowing his misfortune, the broken plate and food would be pinned on him, so he wanted to lower the costs he would have to pay at a minimum.

Twisting his body, he managed to catch the plate, now devoid of food, but lost his balance on some of the spilled noodles. So, he used his own body as a buffer to stop the plate from hitting the tiled floor. The result was the current situation.

"Pfftt." Kuroko, who had witnessed the entire thing, stiffled her laughter. Despite her hatred for Touma, she knew that laughing at his misfortune in public would give a bad image of Tokiwaida. Battling with her need to maintain the image of her school, and her amusment at seeing the 'ape' cause a scene, she decided to settle with a subdued laughter.

Beside her, Ruiko and Kazari could only frown slightly at their friend's reaction. They did not know too much about the relationship of Touma and Mikoto, so they had conflicted feelings. On one hand, Touma could be a massive prick, based on Kuroko's reaction from even mentioning Touma's name. On the other hand, no one should get dumped with noodles when they just enter a restauarnt.

Smiling a little, Percival just looked outside the window, ignoring the chaos that was happening in the restaurant.

* * *

"Now that all the trouble is over, I suppose I shall start us off. My name is Yurei Percival, this is Kamijou Touma, Index, Misaka Mikoto, Ruiko Saten, Kuroko Shirai, and Kazari Uiharu." Percival indicated to each person as he said their names. "And please, keep your voices down."

After Touma and the waiter fell, the manager had came out to see what the commotion was all about. When he saw the mess that had occurred, he scolded the waiter, threatening to fire him on the spot. Touma came to his rescue, saying it was an accident.

This presuaded the manger to allow the waiter to keep his job, if barely, and gave Touma a free meal ticket for the next time he came. He was also given a towel to help remove most of the food on him, and to clean up. Touma thanked the manager for his kindness, and proceeded to clean up in the toilet, where he emereged from a few minutes later, his clothes like nothing had happened to them.

"You okay?" Mikoto questioned Touma once he got back, ignoring Percival's introduction of everyone. She knew that Touma's misfortune had struck again and caused this incident. And, with his misfortune, he would usually get injured or lose something he needed, like money or homework. And when he tripped, she saw him hit his head against the door, which, thankfully, did not break.

"I'm fine," Touma rubbed the back of his head. "Just a bump. Nothing more. Hmm?" Touma looked at Percival. "You know their names, Yurei-san?"

"I do my research as best as possible, Kamijou-san." Percival smiled at Touma from across the table. "So, it would be bad if I did not know the names of the people I need to meet." Right now, they were seated as followed: Percival, Ruiko, Index, Kuroko, Kazari, Mikoto, and Touma.

"But how?" Kuroko finally opened her mouth. She had, at first, kept quiet so as to not draw attention back onto herself. But, after hearing everyones names from some stranger, she became slightly shocked. "How do you know our names? You could be a mental ability user, but that does not work on Onee-sama, as-"

"-her ability protects her from mental attacks. Yes, I know." Percival lightly cut off Kuroko, who looked even more shocked. "And, this is exactly why I asked all of you to come here today. To save me the trouble of explaining in the future."

"What do you mean?" Kazari had ordered a strawberry parafit while waiting, but had stopped halfway when the introductions began. Right now, she was curious as to who Percival was, as well as why he was here.

"The first and most obvious reason. You are Misaka-san's friends." Percival further explained when she saw the confused faces. "See, if I only told Misaka-san, Kamijou-san and Index, only they would know what was going on. But, this would cause some suspicion to bloom between Misaka-san and you three, when she starts to go out of the dorms more often. I guess sneak is a better word. This suspicon would lead to you three plotting, and finding out about part of the situation, which would need me to explain all over again about what was going on, and what had occurred since then."

"So, by telling us know, you are nipping a few problems in the bud." Kazari summed up his explanation, taking a bite out of her parafait.

"Bingo." Snapping his fingers, he aimed at Kazari with a finger gun. "As expected from the Goalkeeper!"

The already tense atmosphere, if possible, became even more tense at the mention of Uiharu's alias.

"How do you know-"

"So you ARE the Informant!" Ruiko cut off Mikoto's question, an 'Ah-ha!' like feature on her face.

"...eh?"

"Erm...nope, that not me!" Percival cheerfully shot down Saten, who pouted. "But, he is my friend. And he seems to have followed my instructions to a T."

"Eh?"

"So...you what is it you want to tell us?" Kuroko huffed as she leaned back. "We do not have time for you to beat around the bush. And, what is it that you want us to find out? Instead of making us do a treasure hunt, just tell us and save all of us the trouble."

"**Stop!"** Mikoto interrupted the conversation(if it could be called one) between her friends and Percival. "What is this about secrets? And why are they saying you are the 'Informant'?" Mikoto glared at Percival from her seat. "Who are you?"

"Hmm..." Percival took up a thinking pose. "I believe I already answered that question earlier, but I suppose I could give you a more in-depth answer. After all, that first one was just an overview."

"Plus, we should be going." Standing up, Percival made his way to the counter. "I trust that Kamijou-san would be fine with using his home as a rendezvous, as you would be able to prepare for dinner earlier, what with the long discussion we are going to have."

"But...my place is only meant for a single person..." Touma tried to refute Percival, but ended up saying it in a small voice. He knew what Percival had said was true. The talk they were about to have might be a long one, and if that was the case, it was better to do it at his place, where he could sate Index's hunger without having to worry about being kicked out of a restaurant from the lack of ingredients they have from trying to feed Index. Speaking of...

"Index..." Touma turned to look at the nun. And his expectations were not betrayed. The nun named Index had managed to finish five plates of food in the short span of time that they were here, and was proceeding to the next one. Beside her, Ruiko and Kuroko could only watch on in morbid fascination.

"I guess Index does not help with your funds..." Mikoto sweatdropped at the amount of food she had already devoured. She had always played off Touma's moaning of shortage of funds due to his misfortune, but after meeting with him, she realised that the main contributor was usually Index. He had to stock up on food for at least 7 people, when in actuality, there was only 2 people and one tiny Magic God.

"Yeah..." Sighing, Touma could already see the amount that Percival would have to pay for this 30 minute meet-up. And how much he would have to pay. "Such misfortune."

* * *

"So this is how your place looks like, eh?"

Percival was looking around the relatively small living space that was Touma's home. Behind him, Kuroko, Kazari and Ruiko were also looking over the living space with interest.

"So this is where a high schooler lives..." Ruiko muttered to herself as she looked at the various appliances that were on the kitchen counter. "...looks very similar to our places..."

Kazari seemed to agree with her friend. "Yeah..."

"Mmmm..." A growl could be heard from behind the two middle schoolers. Blinking in surprise, they turned around to see Index's pouting face. "Stay away from Sphynx's place!"

"?"

"Sphynx?"

"Meow"

A soft feeling on their legs caused them to look down. The calico cat was looking at the two girls with what seemed to be a quizitive look on its face. When it saw the two girls look at him, he mewed again, curling himself up against their legs.

As the cat twirled itself around Ruiko's legs, the two realised that they had walked into what was obviously the calico cat's corner. Despite the tiny space that was Touma's living area, he had created a personal spot for the small calico cat to rest and play in. Most of the time, said cat was with his owner. But, that does not mean that he did not use this space.

Small bits of shredded paper were scattered in the corner they were standing in, and a scratching post was also tucked into the corner for the calico cat to scratch whenever he ran out of waste paper. Right now, the duo were steping on an old cushion that was most likely Sphynx's bed.

"Ah!" Panicking, Ruiko hurriedly stepped off the cushion. "Sorry Sphynx!"

With what seemed to be a huff, the calico cat laid on its bed, playing with a nearby ball of yarn, its attention already off the two girls.

Already predicting this possible outcome, Touma just started his preparations for dinner. It was nearly 3pm, still way too early for dinner, but he thought that he might as well think of what to eat, seeing as Percival had said that this might take a long time.

"Let's see, we have some eggs, meat, fish and vegetables. Seeing as we have a lot of guests today, I should probably make something that is filling, yet does not clear me out entirely." Touma brought out a pan and some eggs from the cupboards.

_"Perhaps some stew and rice? Or maybe tempura? But, tempura would take a while to prepare, and its a hassle to clean up with this many people. So, stew? Then what type?"_

Setting it up, Touma absentmindedly cracked a few eggs into a bowl. _"I could make some beef stew, or chicken. Fish is also on the table, but I currently don't have enough. Ah!"_ A bolt of inspiration struck Touma "That might be good!"

"Touma Touma" Index spoke from her place near Sphynx. The two middle school girls had calmed down from being in a high schooler's dorm, and were now playing with the calico cat. "What are we having for dinner?"

"Its too early for dinner!" Touma tsukkomied at the gluttunous nun. "Besides, you just had nearly 6 plates of food less than an hour ago!"

Seeing this, the last two girls to enter, Kuroko and Mikoto, could only look at what could be described as chaos.

_"When will we start with the talk?"_

* * *

It took a while, but everyone was finally ready. As the table had been destroyed by a misunderstanding, there was a little bit of trouble on where they would have food and snacks, but that was solved by Touma borrowing the table from Tsuchimikado's place. As it was, Maika, his sister, would not be cooking for him, and had not been able to cook for him, for the past few days, and the next few, as she was out doing a training camp for the new maids that had entered her school. For now, he had to settle with heating up food that Maika had left him, buy food from outside, or ask Touma to cook for him.

The last option was rarely used, as Tsuchimikado would rather buy food then owe a favour for Touma. It was, after all, a good way for Touma to get back at Tsuchimikado for all the times he did things to him. Pranks, kidnappings and blackmail included. Of course, Touma would not do it, but he would like to maintain his mask as a double spy longer.

"Hmm, where do I start, where do I start?" Percival seemed to ponder on what he should start. But Touma knew that this was an act, having dealt with Tsuchimikado on a daily basis. His eyes were glinting with mischievousnesss and playfulness, similar to that of a child.

"Well then, as you have oh so many questions, I shall start us off by saying a few things. One, Touma needs an increase in his budget. Two, magic is real. And three, I-"

"You are lying."

"Hmm?" Percival did not seem to mind Kuroko cutting him off mid-sentence. "Why do you think that?"

"Magic is not real." Kuroko explained it slowly, as if she were talking to a child. Well, as Touma has seen that Percival is rather carefree, he can be considered to be a child mentaly. "It is just a slight of hand, an illusion. Something that is used to trick and entertain people."

Beside her, Kazari nodded her head furiously in agreement. Ruiko too nodded, after hesitating for a few seconds. Being an avid believer in urban legends, she can't help but feel that anything is possible. And her proof would be the stripping lady. "Onee-sama, this liar needs to be punished for trying to trick us." Kuroko faltered when she saw Mikoto's face. "Onee-sama?"

Mikoto would have rather kept her friends in the dark about magic. After hearing about it from Touma, she knew that the three of them would be unable to take the horrors and darkness of some magicians and their backgrounds or plans. Index, who until recently, had her memory erased yearly to keep her under the church's control. Orsola, who having decripted a grimoire wrongly(although unknown at the time) was nearly murdered by the very church she came from. And, a little more recently, Othinus. At first glance, she was someone who was evil. But, at heart, she was only lonely, looking for someone to share her sorrows with.

"Yurei-san is right, Kuroko." Mikoto finally decided to come clean after an internal battle with herself. _"No lies. They deserve at least that."_

"Onee-sama..."

"Misaka-san..."

"I know you think its not real, but I've seen it." Mikoto tried to convince her friends. "I saw a golem made of concrete and metal being formed in-front of my eyes, buildings and metal beams sliced in half by just a knife, and a person take another one's face. Also..."

"Misaka-san, allow me." Percival stopped Mikoto as she tried to think of more examples. "Those that you just listed can be attibuted to espers and their abilites. As I can use magic, it would be better to show them."

Opening his hand, Percival statrted to speak, his metal band on his arm glowing a soft green light as hs did.

**"Munio057:Magic Series."** Earth began to appear in Percival's open palm. As they watched in intrigued silence, the earth spun at high speeds, before it was launched from his palm. "**Earth Bullet**."

***Pish***

With a sound similar to a gundischargimg a silenced bullet, the ball of earth shot forwards...at Touma's head.

_"Shit!"_

Acting on instinct, Touma tilted his head, causing the launched stone to whistle past his head and impact against a wall behind him. Upon hitting the wall with a dulled sound, the stone shattered into small fragments peppering Touma's back with them. Kazari, Mikoto and Index was hit as well, but not as much as Touma, who took the brunt of it for the girls. Or rather, his misfortune caused him to take it all.

"Why is it my misfortune always get me in harms wa- What are you looking a...t..."

Touma's complaint died in his throat as he saw the stunned faces of his companions. Following their gazes, he could see why.

Behind him was a small crater. A clear indication of where the stone bullet, as Percival had called it, had struck. In front of him, Percival's armband had changed back into the shield that he had first saw when they met. Now that he was closer, he could see that the shield had carved designs. But what really drew their attention was his palm.

Lightning, fire, wind, earth and light were wrapped around his palm, creating an unusual, yet mesmerising display. But this proved one thing: It was unlikely that Percival was a regular esper. Or even an esper at all for that matter.

"This good enough?"

* * *

**AN**

**Welp, here's another chapter. And it sure is tiring. The plot is moving at a snail's pace. Soon, this would be a once a month update, if I'm not careful****. But for now, the reviews!**

**Armourcoredninebell, thanks for the review! It was a good indication of how my story is progressing. But, the story may get a little dull. This is for all you readers out there. This is cause of some technical stuff I have been dying to explain.**

**And for the person who asked about the basing off the marvel comic character...**

**...I had no idea it was out there until you told me. I knew there was Zeus and Ares, but not Thanatos. But after I searched it up, the only thing that matched my mental image of my OC is the wings. The rest does not suit my OC ver. of Thanatos. Or rather, William.**

**So, this comes in after some awesome news that I received. That time I got reincarnated as a slime S2!!! Log Horizon S3!!!!! Irregular at magic high school S2!!!!! Violet Evergarden movie!!!! Index Genisis Vol. 1!!!!!! And finally...**

**Anime series for Jobless Reincarnation and Strike the Blood green-lit!!!!!**

**So, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and on to the next one! **

P.S.

**This is for those hoping for a new update. Sorry, just some adjustments cause the new Fanfiction app update is very funky**


	8. Background Check

_"italics" / italics _\- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold _**\- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Background check**

Kuroko was the first to break the silence.

"All that shows is that you are a geomancer, mental ability user, or ,unlikely as it sounds, the fabaled Dual Skill." Kuroko tried to dismiss Percival's claims of magic being real. And Percival knew that this would be the first reaction. After all, there was little proof of magic even existing.

"Hmm? Then what about these?" Percival indicated to his right hand, where the lightning, light, earth, fire and black, water-like substance were now orbiting his fist. "This shows that I am either a Dual Skill, going by your logic. And if that is the case, I would be pretty famous. But as not one of you has heard of me, it pretty much confirms me being a magician and that magic is real."

"Grr..." Touma could tell that Kuroko knew that she was beat, in terms of logic. But she still refused to believe that magic was real, even if the facts state that it is possible.

"But that does not prove anything." Ruiko spoke up, causing Kuroko to raise her head. "All it shows is that you are capable of manipulating some elements. Not that magic is real."

"Oho..." Percival was impressed. "I expected that from Uiharu-san or Shirai-san. Why did you say that, Saten-san?"

Ruiko was taken aback by Percival's question. "Oh! Erm...well," Ruiko tried to explain it best she could. "Well, magic is ,to us, an illusion, misdirection, or a slight of hand. There is some science behind it in the psychological sense. But what you are talking about is magic that we find in games, like wizards or mages. So, you could say that you are using magic through misdirection and illusions. But, that also means that magic, like the ones in games, does not exist, and you are tricking all of us."

Touma was stunned, as was Mikoto, Kuroko and Kazari. What Ruiko had just said was correct. And, like she said, magic can, in this case, be considered to be real. _"She's right."_ Touma thought as he looked at Mikoto worridly. _"This does not show that magic is real, and only shows the fact that this could be an aplication of esper abilities. And it seems that Yurei-san has no idea on what to do."_ Touma looked at Percival. His face was frozen, most likely from having not expected that explanation.

He was a little shocked when Percival started to clap. "Very good." Percival was smiling, causing the gathered audience to be a little confused. "I must say, that is a very good scientific explanation. Unfortunately, I have a few cards to play. First, would be this. Misaka Mikoto."

"Misaka-san is a Level 5. Yet, she says that magic is real. That alone would give what I, as well as Kamijou-san and Index, some weight in what we say." Percival was smirking as he saw the realisations hit the three girls. "The second card would be what I just did, and its aftereffects. In theory, it is possible to have a Dual Skill user out there. However, in reality, it is very hard to acheive this because of the calculations required. For example, a person is a Dual Skill user with the abilities telekinesis and geomancer. That combination alone is very powerful. Yet, the ability level of both skills would be, at highest, level 4. And, if both abilities are level 4, this would also, in theory, mean that the person would need to have the calculative ability of a level 6, at least. And that is not including the chances of a person having either a unique Personal Reality, or two seperate Personal Realities for each ability."

"And, my final card. Othinus."

"Hmph. You called, human?"

As he spoke her name, Othinus emerged from her hiding place and landed on the table, not paying any heed to the blinking faces of her audience. Touma, Index and Mikoto, however were panicking.

"Hmm? A doll?" Kazari prodded Othinus's body lightly. Despite this, she was forced to move from the force behind it. "...why does she look so familiar?"

"You are that terrorist, aren't you." Kuroko looked at Othinus with a wary gaze, hands moving to her spikes.

Othinus looked back at Kuroko. "And if I am?"

"I will stop you, to protect Onee-sama." Kuroko replied in a firm tone, teleporting her spikes into her other hand. "And I shall report this ape to the proper authorities for harbouring a criminal."

"Try it." "Kno-"

"Oh, no need for any of that." Suddenly, Kuroko's hand felt a lot lighter. As did her thigh, where she kept her spikes. "Wha-"

"Here." Kuroko looked towards the source of the voice. There, she saw Percival holding her spikes, her belt included. "If you tried to do that, all of Kamijou-san's effort would be for naught. Also, a number of people already know about Othinus's survival, as unbelievable as it sounds."

Kuroko's throat felt very dry all of a sudden. _"Spatial manipulation? No, there was no way that he is a teleporter. Otherwise, he would have just teleported us to the ape's apartment, or else. Then, some sort of stealing ability? But what are the conditions?"_

_"Hmm. Interesting.__"_ Othinus thought as she observed Percival tossing the spikes in his palm up and down. _I sensed a sudden increase in mana flow. What's more, it was very unusal. Did he do some form of body enhancement? But, in theory, that should be very impractical and taxing. So, how did he do that?_ "Who are you?"

"Oh, me?" Percival had a humorous look on his face. "I would say an ordinary guy you can find anywhere, but that would be a lie, after all the shit that Kamijou-san here has faced. And you know **exact****ly **what he has faced, Othinus. Don't you?"

"Just speak."

"Jeez! Don't get your hat in a twist!" Percival dropped the spikes onto the table, where they stayed. "As I said before, I am Percival Yurei, or Yurei Percival, if you prefer it the japanese way, and I am 15 years old. And to clear things up, I am both a magician and an esper."

"You are a magi- omph"

"Ah ah ah," Percival made a 'tsk tsk' noise as he covered Index's mouth with some of the dark, water-like substance. "Please save your questions until the end of the presentation. And, avoid analysing my magic. All you would get from that is a splitting headache."

"And where was I? Ah, yes. Me explaining what I am." Percival plowed on, ignoring Index's unsatisfied muffled words. "In a sense, I am one of the few exceptions to the rules of Magic and Science. And before you ask, there would be further explanations down the road." Percival stopped Kazari from asking him a question.

"Magic, when going down to the very basics of explanations, follows a set of rules. However, when compared to the esper abilities in Academy City, they are more diverse. Magic can be used to achieve a variety of results from a single 'base', while esper abilities can only achieve certain results based on the base you have, which is your Personal Reality."

"For personal reasons, I would not yet tell about where I come from, how I became a magician or an esper, and how I am one of the few exceptions to the rules, as I am sure some people are confused right now. What I will say is the basis of my abilities. For starters, my s-"

***Bang bang***

"Oh, Sorry. I forgot that there were others coming." Ignoring the looks on everyone's faces, Touma followed Percival as he went to open the door. What he saw caused him to be stunned.

Blonde hair, with a face that was cute in Touma's mind. Lacy white gloves that reached to her elbows. And, most noticeably, the huge breasts that did not fit the supposed attire of the girl. A Tokiwadai Middle School Uniform.

Behind this girl was someone that Touma recognised much faster. After all, there was only a small handful of people that he knew wearing **that **sort of outfit.

"...Sequenzia-san?"

* * *

"Why are you here, Shokuhou?'

To say Mikoto was pissed would be an understatement. First, a 15 year old seems to be playing around, even though he said that lives were at stake. Next, her friends were involved with said boy, who was a magician. And finally, the Level 5 which she could not get along with, Shokuhou Misaki, was in the same room with the boy that she liked. Not that she would admit it.

"My my, Misaka-san." Misaki gave a coy smile at her 'rival'. "What could you possibly mean? I am just visiting this Kamijou-san here, as thanks for helping me with some...things in the past."

"Yeah, and I'm the best esper." Mikoto scoffed. "Why are you really here? I know that you would usually leave this to one of your clique members, or control someone to do it for you. So, why are you here?"

"It's very simple, really." Misaki decided to throw away all pretences. "I was...coerced, into doing this."

"Blackmail?"

"Indeed, Misaka-san." Misaki suppressed her feelings from showing on her face. "It pains me to say it, but my caution ability was overpowered by a certain person's information gathering power."

Mikoto caught on quickly. "Yurei-san."

"Yes." Misaki was a little angry at herself for getting blackmailed. As it was, she was the Queen of Mental Ability users, and a level 5 to boot. As such, she made precautions to reduce possible info being used against her. Memory wipes, suggestive thoughts, mental control, and even a group of espers which were both her friends, classmates and trusted subordinates. All these helped with reducing her public image. As well as escaping from **those** scientists. So, for her to be actually blackmailed by someone that was new, it was, in a few words, shameful and depressing. _On the plus side, I get to be with my Prince! _

Meanwhile, the other girls had their eyes on Shutaura.

"Arisa!" Index looked at her with sparkling eyes. "How have you been? Its been so long!"

"Meigo-san?"

"But she does not look like her...Could it be someone else?"

"Yeah, Index. It had been awhile." Shutaura smiled at the joyous nun. It had been a while for sure. The last time she had met Index, it was before her concert as Arisa. They did not have any time to meet after the collapse of the Endymion, what with the fusing of her two bodies, Arisa and Shutaura, the sudden changes to her personality and tastes, and her responsibilities as a leader of a unit in Academy City, the last one being the main reason she did not seek out Touma or Index after the Endymion incident.

"Anoh," Ruiko was the first one out of the three(more like two, as Kuroko was busy staring at the whispering forms of the two level 5s) to ask the 'supposed' idol. "Are you really Meigo-san?"

Smiling, Shutaura decided to answer. "Yes. A lot of things happened, but I am the Arisa that you met before." She recognised Ruiko from Arisa's memories. Although she also saw her as Shutaura, it was but a brief glimpse. So, it was better to rely on Arisa's memories, with said person interacting with the girls more. "Most of them, I rather not, as well as can't, discuss."

"Wow! You look so different! I mean, your hair colour is the main difference, but that alone makes you hard to tell as the idol!" Ruiko examines the agent of the Black Crow Unit. "Besides your hair colour, you seem...different...somehow. More...fit?"

es"I have been working out. Need to keep fit for my job." Shutaura saw no need to keep the girls completely in the dark. _Half truths should work to keep these girls off my back._

"Ahem." Percival coughed into his fist, catching everyone's attention. "Now that everyone I asked has gathered, it would be best that we get back on track. As I was saying, my special ability, or as you espers might call it, esper ability, is Mimicry. That is my main ability."

"Mimicry? And main?" Touma asked.

"Basically, it allows me to 'copy' an ability or skill to a certain extent. A level 0's 'Auto-regeneration'. An Aerohand's ability to create ejection points of air. Even the Level 5's abilities, if I so wished."

"Sounds like the jackpot, right? Well, you are dead wrong." Percival smiled coldly at his words. "Dead not being an exaggeration. Like everything, there is something that makes it more even. More balanced. In my case, it would be the type of skills or abilities I copied, as well as the proficiency that I have over them."

"What do you mean types? Are you classifying them into Mental, Physical, Muscular, Matter, something like that?" Kazari asked Percival. As she asked, her hands were busy typing away at her computer. Beside her, Ruiko nodded her head excitedly.

"Sort of." Nervously smiling, he continued. "When I copy a skill or ability, they get categorised into one of the four I have. Mimicry. Esper. Shield. And Magic, which as I had explained before, exists."

_"Hmm, Yurei-san is saying some pretty complicated yet simple things." _Misaki frowned to herself. _"Perhaps reading a mind or two would help me. The nun? The flower-band wearing girl? Misaka's teleporter friend? Or perhaps Yurei-san?" _

***Pii***

Discreetly, Misaki aimed her remote at Saten and read her mind. Normally, she would have no qualms about doing so in the open. But, now that her Prince, AKA Touma, was near her, she decided to do so secretly. She would have chosen Percival, but her attempts so far had borne no fruit._ Perhaps it was that gadget he had then._

Meanwhile, Percival continued with his explanations. He had noticed, or rather, felt, Misaki's gaze on him. _Might have to talk to her later. Knowing her, she might end up digging some too dangerous info._ "The first one, Mimicry, has only two skills. Mimic. And Amplification. Mimic, as I explained before, allows me to copy someone's ability to a certain extent. But,"

"There is a catch. It only allows me to copy the level 1 equivalent of the ability. Like, if I mimicked a Level 5's electromaster ability, I would get the level 1 equivalent of its power, proficiency, and use. The more I use this copied ability, the more I will be able to, unlock, for a lack of a better word, more uses, power and proficiency of that specific esper ability."

"So, like using a muscle." Kazari summed up. "The more you use a certain muscle, the stronger and more used to it you are."

"Right in one." Percival took a sip out of a bottle he suddenly materialised from somewhere. "Which leads me to its flaw. I can only level certain abilities to a specific level. Electromaster, for example, I can only go up to the equivalent of a Level 3. However, for something like Auto-Rebirth, I can possibly reach the level of a level 3, despite the two coming from a level 5 and 0 respectively."

"The reason for this is simple. Human limitations. You can use this analogy. I am a computer, and these esper abilities are like programs. If the program is too new, I can only run it until the version that it allows me, as the computer does. But, if its is very old, I can adapt it to a new format to run on me. So, if I copy Auto-Rebirth, I would be making most of my cells as stem cells, like in plants, to allow me to rebuild the body parts I lost. If its like a scratch or deep wound needing a month to heal, it would heal in an hour, at most. But if I lost a limb, I would need a few weeks to regain it, unless I find the one I lost and fix it close to, or against, the severed area."

"But, if I copy an electromaster's ability, I would only be able to give out a level 3 to 4 equivalent, because my body can only produce so much electricity without causing my body any damage."

"Now, for my other ability, Amplification. It is similar to stats boost, where it increases my physical abilities. But Amplification allows me to boost both my mental and physical abilities. The limit for this is it can only amplify, or in simpler terms, multiply, my strength by, at most, 20x. Any further than that, and a simple movement would tear my arm or leg off."

"Esper is the category for all mimicked abilities that I have. Shield has abilities which I both mimicked, as well as made. The final one, Magic, has spells for me to use. Each with varying uses."

"This sounds very cool and all," Kuroko decided to speak for the first time in the past few minutes. "but that does not explain **why** you called us all here."

"I'm getting there." Percival plopped onto the floor with a sigh, taking a drink out of his bottle(Something Touma still had no idea where he got from). "It involves both the two sides that we like to call the Magic side and the Science side, which is Academy City, as well as the entire population in first Japan, than half the world."

"And we are chosen because of the things that we have seen, I suppose." Touma slammed his head against the table. "Such Misfortune."

"Oh, look on the bright side!" Percival cheerfully patted Touma on his back. "You get to have a girlfriend at the end of this, plus some shit that has been going on in your life being sorted out!"

Touma would have been happy at what Percival had said, had it not been for the sudden dark auras that **exploded** in the small room, shocking the people living in, and beside, the room.

"I see." Misaki commented as she looked at her competition. "My seduction ability would triumph over all of you. Especially you, Misaka-san. With your body, you could never hope to make Touma happy."

"Oho?" Mikoto kept her feelings in check, although a vein in her head throbed in anger. "But I don't believe size is all that matters. Rather, your blobs of fat would just be a hindrance."

"Say what you want," Shutaura calmly spoke. But everyone could see the fire in her eyes when she looked at the girls that also liked Touma "but you would not be able to protect him as well as I can."

"With that ridiculous unit of yours? It would be a miracle if you can even stop an attack from a Saint." Othinus waved off Shutaura's claims. "In fact, you would be the least suited to satisfy this human."

"**Shut it you witch!**" (Mikoto Misaki)

"You are so small, you can't even reach his waist, much less be his lover!" Mikoto shouted half in embarrassment, her blushing face a testament to her usually timid nature in regards to anything related to love.

"Plus, I know that you did bad things to Touma, so you should forget about him, you old hag!" Misaki, on the other hand, was the opposite of her level 5 rival. She was by no means shy when it came to sexual advances. Rather, it was **because** it was sexual in nature that she held an upper hand against the brown-haired girl.

"Uwah." Kazari was stunned at the number of girls that had suddenly started a catfight. "That's...something..."

**"I have to kill this triogedtyle. I have to do it in order to get Onee-sama's attention on only me..."** Touma moved away from Kuroko when he heard her muttering, already fearing for his life. _Shrai-san really looks like she would kill me. That would **not **be funny. To be killed by a middle school student afer surviving WW3 and Othinus._

Percival, the starter of the current chaos, decided to open his mouth yet again, which Touma could tell would end up in even more chaos. "Shirai-san. You knew about magic."

"Hah?" Kuroko glared at Percival in visible anger. "First you say that magic is real. Then you say that I knew about magic before this? There has to be a limit to your foolishness."

"You can hide it, but you can't fool me that easily." Percival stared down Kuroko, who had her malicious aura up again. Mikoto, Misaki and Shutaura had stopped their argument, and were watching this unfold. "Your reaction earlier did not match what I knew about you. If you did not know about magic, you would not have acted as you did against Othinus, even in her fairy state. So, that begs the question. When did you find out? A few weeks ago, when I presume you were tailing Misaka-san and Kamijou-san? Or perhaps...yesterday?" She flinched slightly when she heard Percival say the word 'yesterday'. "I see."

"Kuroko..." Said girl winced slightly upon hearing Mikoto's hurt tone. "You were following me?"

"No, Onee-sama!" Kuroko tried to explain. "I did no such thing! It was yesterday! Yesterday! I found out yesterday. It was just...I was just...taking some time to process this." Kuroko's voice became smaller as she explained what had occurred yesterday

* * *

**Flashback(Yesterday, around the time Mikoto received the meessage)**

"So, this is the place?"

"Hai, Shirai-san." Ruiko turned her head back to the phone. "This seems to be the place."

It took a while, but they finally managed to get to the location that the Informant wanted them to be. They took a slight detour, though. As Informant had said that they were to prepare for a fight, they picked up on some self-defense items.

Shifting uncomfortably, Kazari looked around her, the shadows cast by the buildings nearby making her slightly jumpy. "So, do we wait? If we are, can we wait somewhere with some better lighting?"

"Don't worry, Uiharu," Ruiko held up another stun baton that Kuroko had managed to get for the two of them. "There is no one here. It's pretty late after all."

"Quiet." Kuroko suddenly held up her hand. Both had spikes held between her fingers, making the total number she currently had be 36. "There."

Mentioning with her spike-filled hand, the three girls looked at the road that was near the alley they were currently in. Although the alley was less of an alley, and more of a third a road.

What they saw, they did not expect.

Vaguely humanoid shapes were making their way to their position, their forms getting bigger with every passing second. Leading them was a human figure. It was clear, from their sizes, that the person in-front was the one being chased. And, as such, it would mean that that person was the Informant.

They could make out more features as the person they presumed to be the Informant came closer to their position, as well as more actions.

The person was wearing what seemed to be a skintight suit, midnight black in colour. Various weapons were strapped to each part of the body, some easily recognisable. Daggers lined his abdomen, along with clips of ammunition. His left hand held a pistol, while his right held a sword. His left thigh was strapped with a crossbow like item, and his right had what appeared to be arrows for his crossbow. As they looked on, the man fired off some shots into the encroaching army.

"Hmm? There you are!" The man suddenly shouted out, surprising the trio. "It's me, the Informant!"

"That can't be his real name, right?" Ruiko muttered to Kuroko, who was keeping a close eye on the 'Informant'.

"Of course not. It has to be his alias." Kuroko sighed as she stepped out from the cover of the buildings, exposing part of her body from the safety of the shadows. _"So, for now, we shall call him Informant, as he wants us to, I suppose."_

"First, Ima' tossing you this secret. Then, get ready to run." The Informant got closer to their position, not slowing down in the slightest as he took out a folder. Now that he was much closer, they could see even more details. The daggers and clips of ammo, now that they could see clearer, were actually attached to a vest, which was unbuttoned in the front. Underneath, they could see even more clips of ammunition. A hood covered the face of the Informant, masking his features. And his arrows for the crossbow contraption were indeed on his right, held down and prevented from spilling everywhere when he moved by leather straps that wrapped the arrows close to his thigh and a small, circular lid. "These enemies of mine have nothing to do with you, so only attack them if they chase after you. Which, they probably will. Now, passsss!"

"Waaa!"

Kazari managed to catch the folder that was tossed her way. Just barely though. Kuroko's shout aimed at the Informamt's reckless behaviour died in her throat when she saw the number of enemies that were chasing the Informant.

A swarm of metallic heads were the only things that could be seen from her position. That showed the sheer number of enemies. But that was not the fearsome part. Instead of an armoured body akin to the powered suits, or the bulky parts from a Power Lifter, all that could be seen was an endoskeleton made entirely of metal. Or what could be made out from the mass of weapons that were attached to it.

From literally every part of the frame, weapons jutted out. Blades, spikes and gun barrels were the only things that made up the body of the machine, but they were numerous in number, making them very deadly in close range. One hug, and they would turn into swiss cheese!

The chest was not the only one that had gun barrels. The arms, as well as the shoulders, were guns. The left was just a large barrel, giving it the impression of a launcher of sorts. The right was a very long barrel. It was so long, it would have scraped the floor had the 'arm' not been pointing upwards. For Kuroko, the only gun that came to mind was a sniper rifle.

Lastly, was the head. That too had not been spared the 'walking armoury' treatment'. Mounted on both sides, were unmistakably harpoon launchers. Despite its miniature size(length of a hand to elbow), its barbed tips glinted in the dim moonlight. And as for its face, it was a mass of cameras and laser pointers, making it look not too different from one of the aerial drones that could be found outside Academy city.

Cold sweat dripped down the trios backs. _"We have to fight these!?!"_"

"Let's go, Shirai-san." Ruiko's tapping on her shoulder brought her out of her stupor. "He said only to fight when necessary. And we don't need to do so."

"Okay." Kuroko quickly held onto the two girls' shoulders. "I'm teleporting us back to the bus stop. You two will go first. After that, I will come back to help the Informant." _Plus, I could ask him a few questions of my own about Onee-sama. That is, if he has any...IF he does, I'm extracting every but of info I can get, before I dispose of his memories. No stalkers are allowed to approach On__ee-sama!_

* * *

_"What in the world..."_

Kuroko gaped at the scene before her. After dropping off Ruiko and Kazari, Kuroko told them to get going first, as they had no means of teleportation besides her. After getting Kazari to send pictures of what was inside the document folder, she teleported back to their previous location, taking care to do so inside the cover and shadows of the buildings, before making her way to the Informant's location, the trail of metal body(or armament) parts giving her a clue as to where the man was.

But, when she arrived at the end of the trail, she was gifted with a rather unbelievable sight.

Metal bodies were littered around the small alleyway she had found the trail ending. Or what was left of them. Some bodies were torn apart, obviously by a large amount of force. Others were melted, and there were a few with arrows or daggers sticking out of their heads, most likely the place which housed the CPU that ran these abominations of weaponry.

And the main reason for this mess, the Informant, was casually making a phone call as he sliced up one of the few remaining machines, each move quickly deflecting or bisecting bullets and robot parts alike. Kuroko was not too sure, given her current position below a window, but she thought that he had a sinister look on his face.

"Mm. Yeah. I did it. Gave them the first secret." Informant's voice echoed in the alley. "So, Academy City eh? This is a place I could get used to! Wait, but that means..." The Informant switched out his blade for his pistol, his phone now held in his right, somehow. Speaking off, how **did** he hold his phone in his left hand, gun included?

"Isn't this the place were Othinus is?" His words caused her blood to run cold. _Othinus? Does he mean the world terrorist that is in the maximum prison?_ Unable to resist, Kuroko shifted her body to a closer position to the Informant, taking care to avoid the metal parts that were lying about. "Yeah. How about that. Because of her magic, we got here...so you have the same theory then?...worried about me? Don't worry too much. These little attacks are no sweat. With magic that is."

_Magic?_ Kuroko would have yelled at the Informant, had she not seen him slice a robot cleanly in half, even with its guns firing straight at it, and him destroy three robots with a single shot from his pistol. _Is he dumb? Magic does not exist! Its basically the occult, something that is, and cannot, be explained by science! Although, there are tricks of light, sleight of hand, type of 'magic'. But if that is the case, why say that the terrorist can also use magic? Unless they are talking about the same th-_ "Yeah, I thought so to! The magic that Othinus uses is awesome!"

_Nevermind. I can say that the gun may be a product of Academy City. But what about the sword? Its obviously too plain to be scientifically upgraded. And besides, swords and crossbows are quite obsolete in the world of guns and machines, unless it is for a sport, like kendo._ Peeking her head out there window, she realised that the Informant was gone. As was any 'alive' robots. _Looks like its safe for me to test out some things._Standing up, she teleported herself into the alleway, taking care to not accidentally land on any of the lying pieces of metal. _This is pretty sturdy, despite its looks._ Kuroko observed one of the more intact robots. Its head, however, as well as its surroundings, were melted though._ My spikes can't even scratch the surface! Even though they are unable to pierce through some Power Suits, they are at least able to leave scratch marks on the material that makes the suits. And they are somewhat deep too. around 5mm. And yet...these robots can resist any damage from my spikes. Making it a harder metal than these spikes of mine._ Stretching, Kuroko decided to leave this place. It was, after all, rather late. And, she would rather take a peek at what the Informant gave her and her friends.

But something still lingered at the back of her mind. _Is magic real then?_

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

"So, what was this big secret that this Informant wanted you to know?" Mikoto took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew that Kuroko did rather stupid things. Sure they may be for the right reasons, or had good intentions, but that did not excuse the fact that she was risking her life for no reason.

"So...the Tree Diagram is...kinda...gone.."

"Ah." Mikoto took a minute to process what she said. "WAIT! THAT'S THE SECRET?!?" _Why on earth did Informant tell them tha- Wait, didn't Percival say that his friend was the Informant?_

"That is some secret." Shutaura blinked. Despite being a part of Academy City's force that protects the city, she was not given much access to information. And, even if they did, she believed that the Board of Directors would keep this sort of information under wraps. After all, many things in Academy City was supervised by the Tree Diagram. If word got out that the famous super computer of Academy City, quite a number of things would go down. Mainly riots in the city, as well as some hysteria. This computer **was** one of the reasons the city was safer. Another being its ability to help predict and steer Academy City out of some dangerous waters.

"Yeah, that surprised us too." Kazari spoke up from behind her screen. "At first, we thought that this was a fake, but after we did some research, it made sense."

"After July 31," Touma stiffened slightly, as did Mikoto and Misaki, "The weather predictions started to be less accurate then before. And, there started to be more intruders entering Academy City. Plus, there was the thing that Shirai-san did last year, about a month or two after July 31. She encountered another teleporter, who had with her a metal case. If we take into account the number of space shuttles that were sent to space a few days before Shirai-san's encounter..."

"Then that show that the Tree Diagram was indeed destroyed." Shutaura muttered, completing Kazari's analysis.

"Yep yep yep!" Percival chose this time to intervene. "And with that, I believe all the important points have been covered. Plus, there is gonna be school for these unfortunate souls, so they need to rest early, lest they wake up late. So, off you go!"

"Wa-wait a minute!"

"Eehhh?"

"Ahh!?!"

A variety of responses were uttered as Percival unceremoniously dumped Ruiko, Kazari, Kuroko, Shutaura, and Misaki out. Mikoto too would have been thrown out, had she not decided to make a move first, but not before she gave her greetings to the trio.

"So sorry for that, but if we stayed any longer, it would be rather...painful... for all of you." Percival grinned in amusement as he watched the girls pick themselves up from the ground. Despite the fact that they were on the fifth floor at first, they had somehow managed to make their way onto the ground floor, outside the complex's area.

"Like you actually are." Kuroko muttered to herself as she checked her watch. Eyes widening, she gave a quick goodbye before she started to make her way back to Tokiwadai, the time already quite late. Time does fly when you have fun, no?

Ruiko, Kazari, and Shutaura too made their way back to their respective destinations, though not entirely by their choice. Leaving only one left.

"Now then," Misaki made a cute pose at Percival. But her eyes, which were full of suspicion, unnerved Percival slightly. They gave the impression she would kill him, even if he did what he had to to get her there for her sake. "what shall we discuss then, Yurei-san!"

...Her voice being all cutesy and carefree did not help...

* * *

**AN**

**So...yeah...sorry guys.**

**I had to take a quick break from writing. Too busy reading LNs, WNs, and watching anime. Thankfully, I just finished up Food Wars, so no more binging on that series. And, more ideas are going through my mind for thus series. That said, I don't know if I will be able to achieve the end goal I set up.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


	9. School Days

"italics" / italics - thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**Italics Bold** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**"** **underlined bold ****"** \- Mental transmissions

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: School Days**

"-what shall we discuss, Yurei-san!"

Percival felt cold sweat run down his back._ I__ guess I should have expected this..._

* * *

**Flashback, yesterday. Before Meeting with Touma and**** Mikoto**

"Queen!"

"Queen!"

"Queen, I have news!"

The last sentence, or rather, the person who spoke it, caught Misaki's attention. "What is it, Junko?"

"Someone wishes to speak with you, Queen." Junko made her way to Misaki's side, keeping pace with the leader of her clique. As per usual, her purplish hair was in ringlets. "It is a male. A young man. He has some information for you."

"Oh?" Her face showed some curiosity, but inside, she was going through some nice, realistic, as well as unsavoury possibilities.

_A man? Could he be Touma? _Her heart fluttered a little at the thought, before it was mercilessly crushed by her knowledge.

_No, its unlikely. Before **that** happened, he already was unable to remember me. After **that** happened, I tried it out, and the result was the same. He still could not remember me. Then, those scientists?_ Dark thoughts began to creep into her mind.

_If they come after me again, perhaps I shall show them my...fearsome...power..._

"Queen?"

"Ah" Misaki realised that Junko had her hand on her shoulder, a concerned look on her face. "Are you okay, Queen? You seem rather distraught."

"Its fine." Misaki smiled, trying to clear her mind of negative thoughts. It worked, somewhat. Her precious malicious thoughts were mostly gone, leaving the lighter, but still dark, thoughts about the treatment she would give to **those** scientists. "I was just thinking on what this young man could possibly wants from us."

"Do not worry, Queen." Junko stayed by Misaki's side as they descended down the stairs that led to the reception area, where the man had asked for Misaki. "Even if he wished to harm one of us, it would be unlikely that he would get away unscathed. We are all high level ability users, and we have a powerful dorm manager."

A small shudder ran through the girls currently around the duo, them included. All of them knew about the dorm manager's great ability to keep all the girls in the dorm in line. And her bing an adult with no esper ability made it even more terrifying. There was a rumour going around, though. About how a young man had attracted the dorm manager's interest. And in a good way, too. For the man, that is.

"With that dorm manager, our safety is guaranteed." Misaki agreed with her close friend, as well as number 2 in her clique. After all, it was hard to get out of one's mind the dorm manager's fearsome combat ability.

* * *

Shirai-san's screams and neck-snap(courtesy of the dorm manager) are a powerful deterrent from breaking any rules set by the dorm manager, after all.

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Bless you, Shirai-san."

* * *

"Hmm?" Misaki was surprised by what she saw upon entering the reception area. And who wouldn't be? After all...

"Ah, Shokuhou-san." A young man with greyish-blonde hair was waiting for them near the entrance. "I have been waiting for you. May I take a small bit of your time? We have some matters to discuss."

...there was a male currently in the premises of the Tokiwadai Dorms, having a nice chat with the Dorm Supervisor.

"You are very different from those males outside, Yurei-san." The dorm supervisor spoke in a pleased tone. "It seems you have no ill will, or any hidden agenda, towards any of my charges living here."

"Of course, Miss Supervisor-san." The young male spoke in a respectful, yet light, tone. "All I wish is to speak with Shokuhou-san."

The dorm supervisor caught Misaki's form out of the masses of students lining the hall. "Shokuhou-san!"

The bark caused Misaki to unconsciously straighten her back. "Yes, dorm supervisor?"

"This young man wishes to speak with you. It seems that he requires your assistance." Her glasses glinted in the lighting, momentarily causing her eyes to be replaced with white lenses, making her look sinister.

"I understand, dorm supervisor." Misaki approached the smiling male hesitantly, her clique not too far behind. "May I ask, who is this person."

"My name is Yurei Percival." The male gave a short but polite bow. "I wish to speak with you about certain things. Shall we take a walk while we discuss?"

"Will around the dorm do?"

"It will be sufficient."

"Then, let us set off." Misaki led the way, Percival a few steps behind her.

* * *

"Why are you here?"

As soon as they were quite a distance away from the entrance, Misaki questioned(or rather, interrogated) Percival. Said person was taking in the sights around them. Not that there was much to see in terms of greenery.

"I was not lying when I said I did not have any ill will or hidden agendas, Shokuhou-san." He spoke, head still faced away from the blonde haired girl. "But then again, it would be hard to trust what I say. After all, I** am **a stranger. Well, not for long, I hope."

"Not for long?" Misaki slowly reached into her bag of remotes, taking care to do it as naturally as possible without setting off any alarm bells in Percival's mind.

_Who is he? And what does he want?_ "What do you mean by that?"

"Before that, I would prefer if your clique would not surround us, or anything like that." Misaki stiffened when she heard him say that. "It would be rather unfortunate for **certain** people if they overheard our little conversation."

**"** **Queen? Shall we attack?** **"** A voice entered Misaki's head, obviously in response to Percival's statement. This voice came from her telepathy network.

See, Misaki was a very cautious person. She also cared for her subordinates/friends. So, whenever there was a battle or an operation, like now, she would create a telepathic network connecting her clique members, herself acting as a control tower.

Right now, several members of her clique were surrounding the pair. These members were ones which were currently outside the dorm. Some had been doing some personal affairs. Others had sneaked out the dorm via windows or hidden access areas. But one thing was for sure: They would heed their Queen's call, no matter the time.

Of course, Misaki would never try to take advantage of this loyalty of theirs. Unless it was for good reasons.

_Judging by his tone and face, it would seem he meant what he had just said._ But that also begs two questions. _Can he handle the 5 members around us? And if so, how?_

"Oh, I believe you are misunderstanding something here." A piece of paper was thrust under Misaki's nose, shocking her slightly at the sudden intrusion. "It has to do with this."

Fear, anger and worry erupted inside Misaki's mind. "What do you intend to do with him." She kept her voice low and her tone monotonous, but her clenched knuckles gave away her true feelings.

_Why is he bringing Touma into this?_

"That would be up to you." Percival kept a calm face as the made their way to the back of the building. "I cannot guarantee his safety if you harm me in anyway, or try to read my mind."

**"** **Queen?****"** Junko's voice echoed in her mind. **"****We are waiting for your command.****"**

**"****Leave us.****"** Misaki finally decided. **"** **But keep some of the faster members around as a insurance. When I say so, you may attack. But for now, do not listen to our talk. "**

**"****Yes, Queen.****"** Several voices replied, before she manipulated the network to work such that they would not be able to hear anything from her side, until the word 'Strike' was spoken.

"So, are you going to start." Misaki decided throw away all pretenses, and went straight for the endgoal. "You said you needed my assistance."

"Kamijou-san is in trouble." That sentence caused Misaki to stop in her tracks. "There is an outside group trying to meddle in some affairs of his right hand, among other things. As such, his life would be placed in severe danger."

"How can I trust you?" Misaki regained her voice.

"For starters, I know that you had small breasts last year, before they suddenly exploded into these huge things." Percival commented with a huge grin on his face. "I also know that you had a rather perverted mind when it came to your 'Prince', as you call him. After all, you wanted to take an indirect kiss from that silver whistle you always carry with you." Then, Percival felt a chill up his spine.

"How do you know that?" A cold voice was suddenly breathed into his ear, causing goosebumps to appear, as well as surprising the teen. After all, Misaki had been in front of him not too long ago.The goosebumps also made the feeling of the remote being pressed into his neck even more prominent. "Have you been stalking me? Or are you part of-"

"Calm down! Calm down!!!" Percival's near shout caused her to press her weapon even harder against Percival. "This is just me showing you that I mean no harm, and that the info I give you cane be trusted! Hell, I only know this because of some unique circumstances!" _Jeez! Note to self:Never threaten Touma when around his suitors_

"Hmm..." Misaki observed Percival's face. "Is that all?"

"Just one more thing. Come to To-, I mean, Kamijou-san's place tomorrow, in the afternoon. Hopefully about 4pm. A number of things would be explained to you afterwards." A bead of sweat travelled down his face, before the remote was removed from the base of his neck.

"I see no deception in your face." Misaki finally commented. "So, if you would please,"

"Erm, no." Percival lowered her hand forcefully. "Don't even try to do it. You would not be able to get anything. My spectacles are a prototype device that emits waves, similar to Misaka Mikoto's field around her head. It prevents any mental interference."

"That's convenient." Narrowing her eyes, she subtly raised her remote. "But I would still like to test it."

"No can do. I have to go now, so try again another time. Bye!"

* * *

**Flashback end**

"Your last action when we parted was rather violent, for one who was praised by the dorm supervisor."

"What other choices did I have?" Percival felt as if there were hundreds of guns pointed at him, despite the fact that it was only one person who was currently near him. "Knock you out and put you down onto the dirty ground? Use Capacity Down on the surrounding vicinity like a street thug and let innocent people get mixed into my troubles? It was a much more peaceful resolution to take your remotes, and bag, with me, run a few hundred metres, place it within your sights, and then leave so that you would not call my bluff!"

"So, it was a bluff?"

_Shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_ Percival's head now looked like a leaky fountain. _I spilled them!!!! I spilled them beeeeeeeeannnnssssszz!!!! _"Now, though, I am able to prevent you from reading my mind. Thanks to my ability that I explained earlier, I have Imagine Breaker's unique power to negate esper abilities. It may not be as strong, but it would get the job done." Nervously, Percival looked at Misaki, hoping she not attempt to read his mind.

"And what makes you think your protection ability exceeds my mental power? Hmm?" Misaki placed a finger on her cheek. It would seem cute from an outsider's perspective, but to Percival, her eyes were full of malice at having been 'blackmailed' into coming to Touma's place.

"You can try it, but there would be little effect beyond reading my surface thoughts, I suppose." Despite her cold look, Percival managed to give off a brave front. Which would have looked more impressive if his face was currently not full of beads of cold sweat.

"...Fine, then. I'll let you off the hook. So answer my questions. Why did you approach me? If you know about Touma's unique condition, then why did you even involve me?"

"For a number of reasons, really." Percival breathed a sigh of relief. _Here comes the easier parts_. "The first is that being a Level 5 mental ability user, it would help if you could reduce the time needed for communication. It would also increase the odds of survival when facing a large number of enemies."

_Makes sense._ Misaki could see the appeal of having a level 5 mental ability user on his team, as much as she would loathe to think it. And, as an added bonus, she could help weed out traitors in said group, or extract vital information in as short a time as possible.

"The second reason is because of some reasons which I would abstain from saying." Percival raised his hands in a surrendering fashion when he saw Misaki raise her handbag full of remotes from his sitting position. Sometime during her interrogation, he had sat down on a bench nearby. _She may lack the stamina, but a bag full of remotes, among other things, would still hurt._ "Its for everyone's safety. Once the aim is reached, I will explain to you."

"Fine then. Your persuasion ability is a little lacking, but I shall let this one slide. The next reason?" Misaki huffed as she sat down next to Percival, hand on her bag, ready to clobber him when necessary.

"This one ties into the final one. I know about your history with Kamijou-san, but not all of it. Only the bare basics."

That perked her interest. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly as I said. Only the bare amount I needed. I may be someone who likes to snoop and such, but who doesn't at one point in their life? Plus, when I found out some information, I decided it was best to keep the other, more sensitive info, unknown to me." Percival frowned a little as he continued. "I know that you and Kamijou-san have some history, and that he lost his memories, as well as his ability to make new ones with you in it, after saving you from something. I also know how you met, to some extent. But after that, nothing else."

"See, I believe everyone needs to have at least one secret. No one is pure or innocent, like babies when they are first born. Humans change over time, like any other organism. For us, our personalities change in such a way that there would almost always be two sides. One good side, and one bad side, as cliche as it sounds. To me, everyone is like a coin. With two sides, like a coin, we also have two faces. One we show to public, and the other we keep secret. The difference between the two is how long can the secret one remain a secret."

"Kamijou-san is very pure, so his bad side is non-existent. But, that does kot mean he has no secrets. Some things are better off not known, after all." Brushing off some dust from the back of his pants, Percival stood up. "And there lies my final reason. You should- or rather, you **need **to be with Kamijou-san. For his sake."

"As sweet as that is, I have a hard time believing you are doing all of this out of the goodness of your heart." Misaki spat out, ignoring the little jolt of happiness she felt when she heard Percival's declaration of sorts. "What are you plotting?"

"Oh, no need to be so hostile. Trust me when I say I admire Kamijou-san as one of the strongest person's I know." Percival gave a cheeky grin. "And as such, would it not be fitting for him to get, like every person, a family? But in this case, his family is going to be very, very messy. A harem."

"A harem?"

"Yes, a harem. With two level 5 espers as the main girlfriends." Percival leaned in to whisper in her ear. "And you would be my partner in crime, so to speak, in getting your beloved prince the love he deserves. Starting with you two level 5 students."

Misaki felt a grin form on her face, before it disappeared, a fact hitting her hard in the head. "My, that is some goal you have, Yurei-san. But you see, why should I help you when there is a very obvious flaw in this plan of yours?"

"You mean his inability to make new memories of you? That is something that I fixed. As I explained earlier, I have a list of skills. One of them allows me to repair wounds of any sort, to a certain degree. So, his ability to make new memories of you would be repaired in due time. So, what do you say?"

Misaki prerended to think about it. She would have been lying if she said she was fine with sharing Touma with other girls, but she could tell. That Percival would try to make this plan a success. His eyes told it all. "I suppose I shall agree with this plan of yours, and let my prince have a harem, as you called it."

"Hehe. Then partner, the first thing is to share with you the harem members for Touma. Of course, it goes without saying that we should try to keep this a secret. Misaka-san would not approve, among some other future members."

"I do hope you have a plan to break it to them."

"Er..."

"My my, you are some planner. Tell me their names, then I will think of a few ways for you to break it to them and convince them."

"As you wish, Queen."

* * *

**A few days later...**

"Everyone, please get to your seats! Classes are starting!"

It was the start of a new school term. And Touma, as usual, was very worried. Why? It was very simple. His grades...

"My grades are gonna faaaaaallllllllllll!!" Touma laid his head face-down on the desk. His words were slightly muffled, but were still discernable. "With my misfortune, I am sure that I am going to be held back!!!!!!"

"Calm down, Kami-yan." As always, his friend/neighbour, Tsuchimikado qas wearing his usual attire of a Hawaiian shirt, a pair of sunglasses tucked onto his shirt. The main difference was that there was a cozy vest over his shirt. Did not change the fact he was wearing it unzipped though. "Your grades may suck, but you are basically set for life! After all, you have an ojou-sama as your girlfriend! Plus," Tsuchimikado grinned "you can still get a job, even with your bad grades, as a cook!"

"But my cooking is not even that great." Touma rebutted Motoharu's words. "Besides, even if it is as great as **everyone** says it is, I would still need some form of certificate to show that I graduated from high school!!!!And I don't have a girlfriend!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Then come work for us, Kami-yan." Motoharu threw his arm around Touma's neck in a lazy manner, a smile on his face, bringing the spiky haired youth closer to the blonde spy. "After all, many people would love you to join their organisation, especially because of your power."

"Heck no!" Touma shrugged off Motoharu's arm. Surprisingly, it slid off easier then he expected. "With my misfortune, those offers would turn into orders for my head!!! The damages from my fights, as well as medical fees, would get **any **organization bankrupt!!!!! Besides," A dark look crossed Touma's face. It was very brief. So brief, Motoharu would have thought it was a shadow, had he not been trained as an elite double spy. "I still don't trust the Angelican church completely. Not after what they did to Index."

Motoharu was silent at that. Now, he may be a spy working for the church, and that he was also a very ruthless person, when he need to be. But, that does not mean he agrees with every method the church employs. A good example would be Index. In the beginning, he too would have seen the measure that was used as necessary. But after spending some time observing said girl, he realised there was no need for such brutal methods, if even at all.

Index was a clueless girl. When it came to magic, she was an expert, an almost all-powerful threat to her enemies. But, so what? That does not mean much when it came to the daily life of the nun, especially if she was not doing anything magic related. Eating, sleeping, spending time with her friends. These did not require the usage of magic, nor the expertise of her magic analysis.

"Hai! Everyone, we have a new transfer student coming into our class today!" Komoe's almost childish voice cut through the class's noise and din, like a hot knife through butter. Almost immediately, the noise died down. It also brought the two male students out of their worlds.

"I know this seems a little late," Komoe continued. "but please welcome him with warm arms! Please, come in, Yu-"

"Hai hai hai!!!!!" An energetic voice responded to Komoe's voice, unintentionally cutting her off too. Though, that had to do partly with the sudden wind pressure that entered the small classroom, the open door the only indication that the student had entered the class(besides his voice).

Greyish-blonde hair. Brown eyes. A somewhat average build. And, most noticeably, a metal band that covered his entire forearm. "Hello everyone! My name is Yurei Percival. My hobbies include reading and watching anime! Please take care of me! Also, any questions?"

"Er..." The class was, needless to say, a little stunned by the transfer student. He had rushed into the classroom, has a unique appearance, and spoke quite fluently in Japanese, even though his features suggested otherwise. Just a little.

_Now that I think about i__t, _Touma gazed at Percival, resisting the urge to shout out his name at his sudden arrival. _We never asked about which country he was from, even though he does not look that similar to a Japanese. Not with that hair and skin colour._

_He does look Asian though. _Touma sat back into his seat, having realised he had half-risen out of it at the sudden entrance of Percival. _I wonder what everyone is gonna ask._

A hand was raised. "Yes?"

"Where are you from?"

"I am Japanese. Although, my father is half japanese, half american, while my mother is also half japanese, half chinese. Hence my skin colour and hair."

"What's your ability?"

"Its called Amplification." Percival smiled at the person who asked. "Basically, it allows me to increase a single attribute of my body. Speed, stamina, strength, even the things you would hear in video games, like durability or mental power. Of course, since my esper level is 4, it can enhance at most 3. 4, if I push it. It works similar to multiplication."

"Why is it called Amplification? By the sound of it, why not call it Stats Boost, or maybe Power Upper?"

"Personally, its preference." Percival shrugged. "I feel that Stats Boost is an esper ability aimed for the entire body. Power Upper is the same, but can only be aimed at the physical or mental area at one point in time. Amplification, however, allows me to be more specific. If I want to Amplify my mental calculation ability, I can. If I want to Amplify my arm strength, I can. If I want to Amplify my natural healing ability, I can. But, the problem is how much I can amplify any of my body parts, be it mental or physical. As of right now, I can only do it up to 10 or 20 times."

"But why such a high level And why the two different numbers.?"

"That is because the 10 is squared, while the 20 is multiplied. So, say my arm strength is base power 1. If I square it, it would be 1. So, I would multiply it. But, if my base srengrh is 2, then, by squaring it by 10, the base power would be over 1000. And, if I take having base of 1 equal to lifting up 1 kg...well, you get the idea of why I am a level 4. And, before you ask, I cannot be a level 5 because right now, I can comfortably Amplify 3 parts of my body. Doing 6 would put me in the realm of level 5."

"If you are such a high level, why join this school?" A girl asked, fixing her glasses as she did so.

"To be honest, I do not like the 'high levels have snobbish attitudes towards lower levels' air around many high level espers. So, by joining a school which has many lower levels, I can more or less protect myself from possible strife against other level 3 to 4 espers. That said, I do hope you would not mind keeping my level a secret. Knowing Kamijou-san's luck, the info would get linked to him, and he would get challenged."

Touma could only watch, slackjawed, as the entire class(sans Fukiyose Seiri) murmured in agreement at what Percival said. Among other things. Like say, death threats from the boys, and hopes of love and affection from the girls.

"Final question." Percival's sudden declaration caused a sudden groan rising from the class. Fukiyose smashed a desk, yelling at the class to be quiet, before said class quieted down. "We still need to have classes, so Yurei-san was right to cut this short!" Fukiyose barked out, her fist still in the desk, which had miraculously survived the Iron Wall's smash.

Quickly, the entire class assembled to discuss which question to ask, the occasional murmur rising from the group. Of course, all that effort would go down the drain, because of one student.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"Yeek!" Percival jumped at the sudden speaker, as did the students nearer to Percival. "Oh. Erm, who are you?"

"Himegami Aisa." The black haired girl stared at Percival. "So, are you?"

"Hmm, well Himegami-san, I am not. I do wonder why you are asking me, someone you have never met before, this question Himegami-san? After all, that seems like a question that someone interested in me might ask." Percival gave a small chuckle at that. "Sensei! Where do I sit?"

"Waah!" Komoe stuttered at the sudden call for her name. "Etto, you can sit behind Kamijou-kun, Yurei-san." Komoe pointed to the seat she mentioned.

As Percival made his way to his seat, the students that had gathered all gave a small groan. _Most likely, they wanted to end class without learning anything. _Percival thought to himself. _Not that I can blame them. A transfer student is more exciting then learning about history._As classes resumed, with Komoe kicking the lesson off with a small lecture on an esper ability's development and the like, Touma let his mind wander, already knowing that listening was not going to help. After all, he himself could not manifest an esper ability, seeing as his right hand would prevent the formation of any, so why listen to how to further develop them? Realising his train of thought, Touna shook his head and attempted to focus.

_Shit! Why did I think that?!?_ Touma tried to follow Komoe's explanation on why the method she had just stated works. _Maybe Othinus's attacks during that time changed me slightly. Though..._Out of the corner of his eye, Touma glanced at Percival. Said person was paying attention to the lecture that was being given by Komoe. _Why is he here?_

* * *

**After School**

"Oh? Why I am here? Well, that's easy. To have fun."

Percival nonchalantly answered Touma's question with a wave of his hand. Currently, the two were in the classroom, the remaining students having already left the classroom.

"No need to be so shocked. I am, after all, 15 years of age. And, like you, I do wish to have a normal high school student's life. I can't scheme and plan **all **the time, you know?" Percival started to walk out of the class, leaving the misfortune boy behind.

_I have both a good and bad feeling about this._ Touma thought to himself as he walked back to his place. If he recalled, the vegetarian stew with potato starch to thicken it, as well as some potato grated into it to give it a better texture, that he made last night was almost finished, with only some of the stew's liquid remaining. Already, he was planning on what to make together with the remaining stew.

As he walked in silence, engrossed in his thoughts, he failed to notice someone looking at him from the cover of a building, before it disappeared under the cover of the shadows

* * *

**AN**

**Whew. This took some brainstorming, this last part. It took me half a week to come up with the final hundred words. I wanted it to end nicely, but with some hints of what was to come.**

**That said, here comes the reviews:**

**ArmouredCoreNineball: **Percival is Mary-sueish for a good reason right now. As the story prgresses, his personality and characterisation would be greater, so stay tuned! Also, for the second bit, that was someething that I goofed up at first, which became part of the story when I thought about it. See, Misaki is pretty jealous, as many of us know. So, how would she act when she found out her rival was meeting her beloved frequently in date scenarios? Of course, irrational behaviour and actions! Same applies for the other suitors.

**Mr ?:** Yeah, that's a fair point. Arisa is way too underrated and underused, so having her here is a boon and a risk at the same time, seeing as we have little info on her. But hey, little info is better than none! Arisa would play a crucial role, as would all of Touma's harem members. Now, if he would accept his fate...

And about Percival's ability. It does seem OP at first glance. But with his restrictions, he would be best placed as a level 4 ver. of Dark Matter(the esper). Both have a versatile weaponry. But weapons do people no good if you can't wield them to its full potential. Like using a shotgun as a club, or a spear as just a fishing tool.


	10. Descent of the Gods

_"italics" / italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

Chapter 9:Descent of the gods

**1 month later...**

It had been a month since Percival had started going to Touma's school. And right now, Touma was lamenting his fortune.

Now, this in itself is something that is rather strange, when viewed by others. After all, a sane person would **wish** for good luck, not lament it when it occurs to said person. But, when you add into the mix consisting of a normal teenager's high school life and a place with technology said to be 30 years in the future, Academy City, the world's most powerful magical item, Imagine Breaker(or scientific. Take your pick), which is also able to erase even God's miracles, you would start to fear getting good luck for even half a day.

...Now that Touma thinks about it, he realises that his life has gotten even more screwed up, if he actually dreads having good luck...

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Touma was currently lamenting his rather good luck during his lunch break.

Noticing his depressed face, Motoharu asked Touma, a sly grin on his face. "Kami-yan," purposely drawing out the 'yan', he placed a chair in front of his dear friend, making it such that he was now facing the depressed teen. "what's got you so down today? Lost one of your girlfriends? Or is it perhaps our very elusive friend Yurei-ssn?"

"Please don't ask. Or rather, I would have said that, if I was currently not fearing for my safety." Touma half moaned, his head currently being covered by both his hands, not that different from the way a person would protect his head from falling debris. "My luck has been getting better recently. Today, in fact."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Today, when I woke up, Index did not eat much. That in itself is good luck for me. Saves me some money for lunch for her."

"Then, when I was on the way to school, I manage to get some free items from my daily bargain hunts. Including multiple group tickets to an amusement park that has free flow food."

"That is a very good break for you." Motoharu agreed with Touma's sentiment, a frown crossing his features.

"That's not the worst part." Touma moaned out. "I got asked by two Ojou-samas to accompany them on a shopping trip. **And **they will pay for what I need, transport inlcuded."

"Kami-yan..." Motoharu placed his hand on Touma's shoulder, speaking in a somber tone. "I envy your luck with ladies, hate your ability to woe them, and am worried about your personal health. Just a bit."

_Tsuchimikado..._Touma thought in appreciation of his friend's concern. "After all, you would have trouble in the future with satisfying your harem." Motoharu continued in his somber tone, a silly grin on his face.

_I take it back...I hate him after all..._ Touma gave the blond a deadpan loom as the double agent patted him on the back, his Cheshire grin still on his face.

* * *

In the end, Touma took up the two 'Ojou-samas' offer to accompany them. But, that was actually not the entire truth. It was actually Mikoto and her friends that asked him to accompany them to the newest mall. Partly because they wanted to see the interactions between the Railgun and the Master of Misfortune(Ruiko and Kazari), punish the ape for his barbaric acts(Kuroko), have some catching up plus explanations for her friends and herself(courtesy of Index), and have a relaxing day.

But, why would Touma consider this an act of misfortune? Well, it had to do with the location itself...

_The Dianoid sure is something..._ Touma thought as he gazed at the carbon based structure. _But, I feel like I am missing something here (*1*)...Hopefully, there would not be any trouble this time. But with my usual luck..._

"Such misfortune..." A voice brought him out of his depressed state.

"Kamijou-san!" Ruiko shouted out to her new friend. As he turned, he noticed that she was waving her hand to catch his attention. "Did you wait long?" Ruiko stopped in front of the teen, greeting the nun beside him and her cat(plus one doll-sized magic god). "Sorry we took so long. Shirai-san wanted to bring more spikes than usual. Probably to attack you."

"Sounds like she would do that..." Touma said in a glum tone. He did not know what that girl's problem was. Then again, he did not know what girls were thinking in general, as did most of the male population.

* * *

In the famed Windowless building, a certain Director sneezed.

Surprise flitted across his face, the first time he showed emotions for a looooooonnngggg time.

_I feel like I should say that "Someone is talking about me", but that is scientifically unproven. _Aleister thought to himself as he continued to observe parts of Academy City.(*2*) _But how did I sneeze? Especially since I am currently completely immersed in liquid_

* * *

"Also, is Yurei-san coming?" The question caught Touma by surprise. "He ssid he had something to help me with my current self, whatever that meant." A sparkle entered her eyes as a thought crossed her mind. "Maybe it is something to increase my level?"

"Not sure." Touma was drawing a blank on the grey-blonde haired teen's intentions. "For all we know, he could be doing something to improve our fighting ability against...whatever he wants us to help him fight."

"So cruel, Kamijou-san. I believe I have said this many times, ya know? I only want to help. And have a good life."

"Gah!" Jumping back instinctively, Touma faced the speaker. "Yurei-san, stop doing that!"

"But I like doing this..." Percival pouted in mock disappointment. Facing Ruiko, he clapped his hands together, getting the others attention. "And, to answer your question, Saten-san, its a little like the Level Upper you had tried out once. Of course, nothing as dangerous, like falling into a coma, or your ability overwhelming your control."

"You sure its not dangerous?" Touma gave Percival a hard stare. "...like that thing you had Mikoto try out a few days back? Or that gloves which made me a target for delinquents? Speaking of, I am really questioning the reason for you to make a pair of gloves that encourage people to fight me."

"Sorry, Kamijou-san." Placing his clasped hands forward, Percival bowed to the suspicious Touma. "That was a miscalculation on my part. I just wanted to help you!"

"And how is making people fight me helping me?! My hospital bills would only increase, and my food budget would grow even tighter!"

Ruiko could only watch on as the pair seemed to bicker back and forth. _Well, they seem like good friends._

* * *

"So, about that Level Upper thing..."

It took a few minutes to get everyone to be their usual, collected selves. When Kuroko noticed the duo, she immediately went after Touma, attempting to teleport him upside down(pants not included) to embarrass him enough to get Mikoto to chase him away. Sadly for her, she had grabbed his right hand, so her plan to teleport him upside down and humiliate him ended up as him forcing Kuroko down into the tangle of limbs that was him and Percival, which was now 3 people if including Kuroko.

Then, when Mikoto saw the mess of limbs the trio had become, she was so overwhelmed by her emotions, her power ran wild, focusing on the almost ecchi scene before her. Which also only affected Kuroko(to her bliss) and Touma(to his agony), seeing as his hand was still clasped to Kuroko's, the latter having a deathgrip when she was shocked. Percival was unaffected, or rather, not as badly affected, as the other two, due to his ability, as well as his quick thinking of jabbing a metal pole that he grabbed out of nowhere(seriously, Touma still has no clue on **how** Percival does these things, especially after being his friend for nearly a month.

"Ah right. For starters, it is less like a sudden boost and more of a gradual climb. Your mental calculations are the main problem. So, I shpuld be able to help you raise your level by increasing your mental calculative ability. Your Personal Reality however, would have to be settled by yourself, seeing as I am no expert in the field of espers." Percival explained to Ruiko as they walked. They were lagging behind everyone, so nobody was the wiser on their contents of their conversation.

"Mhm. So, what do I have to do?"

"Solve these problems." A tablet was thrust in front of Ruiko's face.

"Eh?"

"Also," Ignoring her astounded expression, Percival gave her a timer and a small bag. "Use this to help time yourself. Try to solve these problems as fast as possible. Without external help, like paper and pen to do calculations, or a calculator or friends to help guide you. Don't worry, after a while this would be simple for you."

"W-what?" Ruiko looked through the contents of the tablets. Inside were, as Percival said, mathematical problems. Some she recognised at a glance. Others looked very complicated. "These seem like they are meant for higher levels!"

"My point exactly." Percival gazed at Ruiko seriously, causing her to falter slightly in her pace. "Right now, you are currently a Level 0. Your friend, Uiharu-san, is a Level 1. Am I right to say that she helps you frequently with your school work?"

"Yes." Ruiko could see where this was going. "So, are you saying that if I raise my calculation ability, my Level will also rise?"

"Not quite." Percival admitted, causing the small bud of hope inside her heart to be crushed. "But it does tie in to it. You know how every ability differs from each other, right? Like for example a electromaster esper and a hydrokinesis esper? They would have different formulas for their abilities, even if they were the same level of, say, Level 3."

"So, you are just helping me to build a foundation for any ability I could possibly develop?" Ruiko placed her fist into her palm, understanding crossing her features.

"Exactly. You need the calculation ability to help with your and such. That is all I can do. The ability you would develop, as well as its level, would depend on your efforts and your Personal Reality." Percival smiled at the smiling face of Ruiko. "I hope this would help you. Its still theoretical after all."

"Even if it doesn't help with my level, it would sure help with my school work!" Ruiiko cheerfully spoke, a new spring in her step. "And, I could help Uiharu with her work if she would need it. Not like that would help!"

Humming a small tune, Ruiko ran ahead to her friends, leaving Percival alone. Still smiling, Percival watched as Ruiko began chatting cheerfully with Kazari. _Such a great girl. I just wish whatever comes next does not change anyone's personality._

**"****Is that not why we are here? To help mitigate the aftereffects?"** A sudden voice echoed around Percival. Yet, the people around did not notice. Not even the mental user that was following them quietly.

_**"****I suppose you are right, Informant."**_ Percival sighed heavily, vaguely hearing some male scream in pain. Probably Touma, he reasoned.

**"Using my codename? Harsh. So, what would you do?" **Informant asked from his position. Right now, he was having a good homemade food he had made. Placing the steaming hot katsudon into his mouth, he continued his mental conversation with Percival. **" Warn them of the future events? We could do that, and save everyone a lot of pain."**

_**"You know that we should not do that.****"**_ Percival scolded his friend. **_"Besides, I would rather keep the timeline from diverging from its original course too much. Some things need to change, but not all of them."_**

**"You sure that is all?"** Percival could tell that Informant was smirking. **"Last I checked, you were a stunned that the Railgun had a huge change in heart in her morals."**

_**"****I guess that is part of the reason."**_ Percival admitted grudgingly. **_"But who wants to watch a 14 year old turn into a nearly homicidal girl? Remember, the Level 5s are all a little...messed up in the head. A too great a change would result in massive changes in their behaviour, and as such, their actions."_**

**"Best of luck then." **Unseen to him, Informant finished up his bowl of katsudon. **"Just... be careful. And don't blow it."**

**_"_Thanks for the concern." **Percival replied in a sarcastic tone, feeling their connection go silent. But, being his friend, he could tell Informant was very worried. _He worries too much. But, seeing as I have some rather strong feelings with this place, and their inhabitants, I suppose his worries are not unfounded._

"Yurei-san!" A small hand touched his metal banded hand, shocking him out of his daze. Looking to its source, he saw that Ruiko was looking at him with a worried gaze. "You okay? You seem distracted."

"Just thinking of some things." Percival told Ruiko with a reassuring smile. "I suppose Kamijou-san needs some help?"

"Yeah. Kamijou-san lost his wallet, so he needs some extra eyes and hands to help him search."

"I suppose his misfortune is going strong then." Sighing a little with a smile on his face, Percival walked to the teen's position. "Let's go help him then, shall we Saten-san?"

"Hai!"

* * *

It took a while, but they finally managed to find Touma's wallet. When he was dropped kicked by Kuroko for entering the underwear shop(not on purpose), his wallet flew out of his pocket from the impact, landing in front of a young baby, who began to gnaw it. The mother of said baby did not notice the new addition in her child's mouth until half an hour later, where Ruiko just happened to catch sight of the brown wallet.

Thankfully, the wallet had been in the baby's hands the entire time it was lost, so no money was lost. However, the bad news was that the baby was actually part of a test that had been set up by the 'mother's' teacher. The test:Take care of a baby for a week. The better condition the baby is, the higher the score. No outside help, or use of funds beyond a certain amount, was allowed. And this 'baby' was actually a machine that was able to do anything a year old baby could. Including drooling, eating and giving out waste products. And said baby had been gnawing on Touma's wallet, which contained his ID and atm credit card...

"Such misfortune..." Touma could only look on in sadness as he took out what remained of his wallet from the middle school student's hand, his ID and credit card included.

His wallet had been through hell and back. At least, it looked like it. The brown wallet, which was only 2 months old, had become tattered and torn, as if it had been used for a decade. Touma's ID, once a slim, plastic card, was now shattered into tiny bits, the largest(and only large) piece piece being no bigger the the nail on his pinkie finger. The same thing for his credit card

"I guess that is the worst of it for your misfortune, right?" Percival stood behind him, chuckling. Although, he **was** comforting the despairing Touma, so he was grateful for that part.

"Not even close." Touma groaned. "I wish it was, but this is just the beginning. My misfortune works like a domino effect sometimes. And, if I had great luck earlier, this domino effect is bond to occur."

"Ah." Patting Touma in the back, Percival did not know how to respond. "Hope you survive?"

"I feel like you are mocking me and comforting me at the same time." Touma barked at Percival, before he recollected himself. "Sorry, its just...things are rather hectic lately. And, with what you said last month...its turned my life upside down. In a few ways."

"Is this one of these ways?" Percival smirked at Touma, confusing him for a few seconds, until he realised he was pointing behind him. Gulping, he felt a pit form in his stomach as he looked behind him. The pit only grew when he felt two **soft, squishy** things on his back, along with two voices.

"Hiiii Touma!" Misaki positively squealed in joy as she hugged him from behind. Behind her, Mikoto was glaring at the pair. Even though he was far away, Touma shivered under Mikoto's glare.

"Hello Shokuhou-san." Touma just managed to not stumble at the sudden addition of weight on his back. For some reason, Percival had disappeared. "Why are you here?"

"Hm? Misaki briefly hugged Touma tighter, before she released her grip on the boy. "I was just around-wait. You remember me?"

"Of course I would." Touma blinked in surprise at the look Misaki was giving her, which was one of wonderment."Why wouldn't I remember one of my friends?"

"...oh, its nothing. Just a little surprised you remembered me among the last group gathering we had. After all, we didn't talk that much." Misaki giggled as she hugged Touma close to her chest, causing said boy to blush heavily. "Wah! Erm, S-shokuhou-san? C-could you p-please let go of my arm?"

"Why? Is something bothering you?" Coyly, Misaki smirked at Touma from her position. To Touma, this was a critical hit. Her height was shorter than Touma's, so he had to look down to see her face, which added to the devastating blow Misakk dealt him. She was already very cute, but her position, as well as the small pout she gave, made her even more deadly.

***Bachin***

Feeling blood rising to his nose, Touma hurriedly used his other hand to pinch his leg. _Restrain thyself! _Touma chastised himself as he tried to reign in his thoughts.

* * *

Meanwhile, unknown to him, Misaki was having some trouble controlling her emotions.

_He remembers me! _Misaki was so happy, she might as well be jumping and squealing like a girl in love. Which she was, but not that it mattered right now. _So, Yurei-san managed to do as he said. __I suppose I will lower his punishment level. For now._

* * *

A few shops away, Percival felt a shiver crawl up his spine.

* * *

"Shokuhou!" A loud voice suddenly cut into her ears, knocking her out of her thoughts. Although, that felt like it was pushing her off her Prince Charming in Lala land. Literally.

With a groan, Misaki was heaved off of Touma's arm. But, to Misaki, it was less of a heave, and more of a hard push. Angry beyond belief, she turned to the person who had pulled her off...

Mikoto panted with exhaustion. One minute, she was trying to get Kuroko to release her from her hug(which involved the groping of her chest, again), the next, she witnessed Misaki suddenly appear out of thin air, jumping onto Touma. Her anger grew when she saw the two melons she had for a chest become squished between the girl and Touma's back. By the time Misaki had shoved(to Mikoto) his arm between her 'blobs of useless fat', it would have been no surprise to anyone if steam was rising off of Mikoto's face.

"Onee...sama?" Kuroko's voice seemed soooo far away. As if it was coming from a tunnel. "Are you okay? You are letting of some electricity."

"Huh?" Snapping back, she realised that, as Kuroko had said, she was letting off some sparks. "S-sorry!" Immediately, the sparks stopped, causing some onlookers to breath a sigh of relief.

As she apologised to the nearby people, she caught what looked like a slim figure pull Misaki off of Touma. Now, this would not have bothered Mikoto too much, had said person not an outrageous figure as well.

* * *

...only to see huge...**boobs **fill her entire sight. _Eh?_

"E-ero maid!" Touma sputtered at the new person's sudden arrival. This, coupled with the way his face suddenly lit up, made Misaki think that he had seen something that most males would have killed to see. Which also meant that it was an act of seduction. On Touma. HER TOUMA!

The new arrival, upon hearing the name that Touma gave, blushed deeply. The bandaged-wrapped item(she later realised it was a katana) she held in her left hand gave off a creaking sound as her grip momentarily increased at the sound of the name, the weapon being forced to endure the Saint's superhuman strength. "Ka-ka-kamijou-san! Please forget that ever happened!" she had all but shrieked in embarrassment.

Regaining a little of her composure, she quickly started to drag Touma, the boy nearly losing his balance at the speed the Saint moved.

Blinking in surprise, the two girls that had their eye on him could only watch as Touma's figure re-located itself at the lower floors, becoming clear for a minute before it was lost once more. Looking up, Mikoto caught Misaki's eyes. A mutual understanding passed between the two, before they leapt into action. Literally.

Running to the edge of floor she was on, Mikoto jumped, using her powers to help her her way to the ground level. Misaki, already nearer to the edge, so all she had to do was leap.

..

..

..

..

...was what she would have done, IF she was on good terms with Mikoto. Instead, she walked to the nearest elevator. Taking out her remote, she took control of everyone's minds. Using her ability, she erased the memories involving her, Mikoto and Touma over the last five minutes, before entering the elevator, and heading for the ground level. _We may be on good terms, but my trust has yet to reach our levels._

Meanwhile, the three girls that were left behind could only gape at the efficiency of the two level 5s. "So, they left quickly..." Ruiko noted out loud.

"Hold on. I'm going to teleport us outside." Kuroko gave her two friends a warning, before she grabbed onto their wrists and teleported them, the displacement of air the only indication they had even been there.

* * *

"Ka-Kanzaki-san! Please stop!"

"My apologies, Kamijou-san." The Japanese Saint apologised as she released her hold on the wielder of Imagine Breaker, stopping a few dozen metres away from the giant carbon complex. "I have set up a bounded field near here, so we must make haste."

"Is there a problem?" The way Touma said 'problem' caused Kaori to look at the boy with a worried expression. "Yes, there is." She spoke in a cautious tone, hoping it would not cause Touma to freak out. When he gave no such indication, she continued. "We were told that someone would be after you soon, so the Archbishop told me and Stiyl to come to Academy City as soon as possible."

"Did they say who?" Touma spoke in a weary tone. He had been expecting something along these lines the moment his luck got better. But expecting it, and being mentally prepared for it, are two different things entirely.

As Kanzaki prepared to speak, two certain girls appeared. "Touma!" "Touma!"

_These two, _Kaori watched as the two level 5 girls caught up to the pair. _If I recall, they are Kamijou-san's friends. But, _As she watched, the blonde female stopped running, opting to walk at much slower pace. _Is she even a middle-schooler?_

"Who is she?" Kaori was a little taken aback ferocity in the brown-haired girl's voice. Then, she realised why. Anyone would be suspicious if their friends were suddenly taken.

Touma only spoke one word. "Magic."

"I see."

"Don't worry. They know about it. Thanks to Yurei-san." Touma muttered in a dark tone. "He made **such** a complicated plan, just to get a few people to know about magic."

_Yurei-san? Who is...ah, the foreign looking boy. _Kaori decided to ask about him later. For now, what she had came here to do. "Kamijou-san, we recieved some information about an enemy magician that has arrived in Academy City. We suspect that his purpose is-"

"Hello Imagine Breaker."

A sudden voice interrupted Kaori. Acting on instinct, she jumped backwards, landing beside Touma, hand on her katana. _I did not even sense this person approach me! _"Who are you?"

"Oh ho ho," the owner of the voice, a man who was hooded, gave a light chuckle. "It should be simple, Saint. But, for the moment, please do not interfere with my business with the wielder of Imagine Breaker."

Everyone was on high alert. "What do you want with Touma?" Mikoto asked with a glare, her whole body sparking.

"Just a small deal." Chuckling, the man stood straighter, as if he had just realised something. That small action also caused the hood he was wearing to fall off his head, exposing his features. "Oh dear. I forgot to introduce myself."

The face of a mummified man met the astonished faces of the surrounding people. His face, withered with age, split into a wide grin, his dried skin cracking a little as it was stretched. "Hello Imagine Breaker. I am High Priest, a god of magic."

* * *

(1)**-Get it? Since technically, humans are also carbon based life forms**

**(2)-Something that happens in one of the later volumes**

**AN**

**So, yeah. This happened.**

**Its getting real taxing for me to try and deal with the integration of the LN volume I am doing right now. What makes this even harder is the fact I literally skipped ALL the LN volumes, relying only on the anime to get me up to speed(Besides the one on the Dianoid). That said, I am reading them now, so I will be more or less up to speed and have new ideas for arcs. Of course, the bad news for this would be that the updates would be much slower. Chp. 10 is having some broken cogs, if you know what I mean. Thanks to the reviwers who reviewed!**

**And I also just released a new fanfic story! Its been on my mind for a long time now, and a recent reread of a series I love rekindled that fire, so I decided to make a mew series on a whim. That said, I will try my best to make it entertaining, and have the characters stay true to their cores.**

**That's all folks, and remember. Keep clean, stay healthy and avoid going into crowded areas!**


	11. High Priest, Pt1

_I__talics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: High Priest**

"A god...of magic?"

"Yes, little girl. Perhaps it would be better to compare me to that 'terrorist' all of you were so wary about a few months back. Othinus." High Priest spoke in a dismissive tone, causing a few tick marks to appear on Mikoto's forehead. "Why you!"

"I am not going through all the shit with Othinus again, this time with you!"

Touma screamed into the air, causing everyone present to look at him. As they watched, small tears gathered at the corners of Touma's eyes. High priest shrugged.

"I suppose that is fair, yes."

"Nor am I going to allow you to do as you please!"

"Ho? And how do-"

"What is it!? What is it!?" Touma grabbed onto the magic god, shocking many present. "Destruction of the entire world? Killing half the population so that the other half can survive? Create a hell where only the top 5% of the world can survive? Make an eden for magicians, with the destruction of Academy City as the start? Or do you want to use my body to conquer the world?!" As he ranted, Touma had begun to shake the old man back and forth, his head looking more like a bobble-head. "Just say it so that I can smash that illusion of yours into tiny bits already!"

"My my. That is quite a bit of stress you have there, Kamijou Touma." High Priest chuckled on the outside, but on the inside, he was a little stunned, to say the least. He was expecting tears, sure. What Othinus did gave him quite a bit of trauma, after all. Although, said trauma was erased, courtesy of Othinus. He may not have known the Norse Magic God that well, but he could tell it was to pay him back what she did to him.

But what he was **not **expecting was for the Imagine Breaker to have what looked like a mental breakdown when he saw him. _Hmm, perhaps Niang-Niang or Nephthys would have been better suited to do this. They are much better at handling the males, after all, compared to this old man._

"Kamijou-san, please get a hold of yourself!"

A blur of movement later, Touma was ripped off the magic god, held by a gary-blond youth. His left arm had a metal band on it. Curiously, High Priest noted the structure of the thing attached to this new addition's arm. _Oh ho? This person...I have never seem him before, so he must be a new friend of the Kamijou Touma. But, I must say, that weapon of his...very interesting..._

"Yurei-san!" Touma faltered for a moment, before he continued his actions, albeit a bit more frantic than before. "Let go of meee! I am not looking for some skinship between guuuuuuyyyyyssss!"

_You say that, but you were nearly strangling a person less than a few seconds ago... _Everyone sweatdropped at Touma's list of priorities.

"You say that, but you were nearly strangling a magic god with your bare hands a few moment ago! Calm down, Kamijou-san." Percival's statement stopped Touma's struggling. Sensing that he had calmed down, Percival released him.

"Good, it seems you have finally calmed yourself." High Priest cackled. "I am a magic god, so it would be reasonable for a human to reach an understanding a little too slow for my tastes. Although, I am not so impatient that this little wait would drive me into killing you for making me wait. We have waited for years. A few extra minutes would not hurt."

_We?_

Touma decided to stop his mind right there. "So, why are you here?"

"My my. Straight to the point. I suppose you would prefer things to be straight and simple, what with magicians hiding their original goal with fake plans and such." High Priest chuckled, his thin husk of a body clearly seen against the silk like robes he wore. At his side, a golden blade was held like a walking stick in his left hand. "But, before that. What do you think of the current world?"

"Now now, no need to be so defensive." High Priest stepped forwards, his right hand raised in a placating gesture. "I am not going to do something as drastic as what Othinus did. Recreating the world and all of that. Nor am I going to complain about the world being remade. What I am asking is about your impression of the world in general. So, what are your thoughts when you hear the words 'the world'? "

"I guess...a place where all my friends are. My...no, **our **home planet." Touma spoke slowly, trying to fund the words. "It is the place I was born, and, despite its large size, and the small area I live on, I would not change it, nor trade it, for anything, I guess."

"Interesting." High Priest raised a brow at the boy.(Or attempted to, his dry skin cracking under the attempted action). "That is a good response. But, here is another question for you:There have been a number of events that would have shook the earth. And in Othinus's case, quite literally so. Yet, they all take place whenever you are in the area. Why is that?"

_Huh? _Touma had a bad feeling about this...

* * *

Mikoto was wary. But she knew. The power of a Magic God was way beyond that of a level 5 esper or a Saint. Much less a normal esper. Touma, having Imagine Breaker, was the **only** exception to the effects of Othinus's world recreation. At least, that was before she met High Priest.

And now, she was having a few doubts of her own. _I thought Touma was the the only one that could remember Othinus's actions, and even rebel against them. Guess I was wrong, what with there being **even more Magic Gods!**_

High Priest's 'question' drew her out of her inner doubt.

As she watched, a feeling inside her was starting to become more and more prominent. It was telling her to run, to hide, even move, anything that would get her away from the old mummy.

"The world is very fragile. Out of all the seven billion people living in the world, not everyone supports. And for those that do, they too do not support it equally. And Imagine Breaker, as you know, is the reference point for all Magicians, despite them fearing its power. So, Imagine Breaker truly is the greatest supporting pillar in the world. But, therein lies the question: How on earth did this thick pillar that help support the world, end up being sealed inside a simple individual's right hand? Would this also mean that that individual supports the world the most? Personally, I think that that person is the most unique person, for having that right hand with its sealed Imagine Breaker."

_He is right, in a way._ Mikoto thought to herself. _Despite there being 7 billion people on the planet, out of all of them, only one person gets Imagine Breaker. And, Touma just so happens to be that person. But, is the person who gets Imagine Breaker the one who supports the world the most unique? I don't think so_.

* * *

"I don't think that is true."

Touma looked at his right hand as he spoke. "Sure, Imagine Breaker is very powerful against the supernatural, but that is all. Against modern weapons and human skills, its just a right hand."

Keeping silent, he thought about it for a bit more, before he continued. "I mean, to a Magic God up above, this world is nothing more than a game board, one that can be remade over and over again like an MMO character. But, that does not make it right. This isn't an RPG that is made to be beaten and is 'game over' once you reach the end. The world goes on, even without these pillars you just spoke about. The person who made it possible for us to use electricity? He died, but the world moved on. The people who allowed us to travel the world by air, land or sea? They are dead too, yet the world still goes on. Even **if **I am a pillar, that would mean the world's lifespan would be, at most, another hundred years. But, that would be impossible. So, the world must continue on without me, the bearer of my right hand. It has to go on, even if...no, **when** I die."

"You believe all who live in this world are equal?"

"I do."

"Heh. How naive." High Priest laughed. "Please, do think on it, Kamijou Touma. This country consider's the killing of an old doctor a greater crime than the murder of an innocent man. The murder of a child a greater crime than the killing of an old man. These laws might as well say that the penalty of the crime is based on the future ability of the person, making it a completely unequal, biased system that is governing this world. You might as well just point a finger at a regular guy and say that if he dies right there and then, his death would not impact anything at all."

"That's just half a picture. There is no evidence on what you just said to be the basis of the government and its laws."

"Perhaps so." High Priest shrugged. "I never expected to win this anyway. I was just...what is the word? Ah, yes, grasping at straws."

Touma looked at his hand once more. It was true that he had never thought about the world, nor its systems, too deeply. But, he knew that what High Priest had just said was not true. At least, not completely.

If there was a choice to kill a person who murdered for fun, and a person who killed to prevent the murder of thousands, a rational person would choose to kill the one who killed for fun. But, for Touma, he would rather have no one killed. Rather, he would have both of them rehabilitated, changed for the better, to help society. That was who he is. A person who would choose the third option.

"You know," High Priest continued on. "I have this feeling that **you **are the centre of the world, having Imagine Breaker sealed in your hand and all."

"So?" Touma was getting nervous. His instincts screaming at him that his misfortune was going to come down on him. Hard.

"Has it occurred to you that every incident that has occurred, from your introduction to the Magic Side to Othinus's actions, has been orchestrated by someone?" High Priest gave no impression of stopping until he got to where he wanted. "Every incident that you have been through, every scenario, was manipulated by people in power? Or, at the very least, powerful people?"

"Like, for example, you Magic Gods?""

Percival suddenly spoke up, surprising Touma and High Priest. "Really, you need to be more attentive to your surroundings, Kamijou-san. You even forgot about Shokuhou-san and Misaka-san."

"**Tooouummaaaaa..." **

As if on cue, the two Tokiwadai girls spoke in a scary tone, sending shivers up the misfortunate boy. _Scary!_

"Ho ho! Such scary bloodlust!" High Priest cackled. "And you, boy, you stole my thunder!"

"Like you need any more." Percival rebutted High Priest. "You introduced yourself in a dramatic way, showed up like an extra from 'T#* Mum$y', skin all dried up and glowing eyes, and even led this conversation to the climax you wanted. So, why do you need more thunder?"

"...Ha! Such truth cannot be refuted, young boy! You have peaked my interest, although you would be gone soon enough. Tell me, what is your name."

"Yurei Percival." Steely eyes met glowing ones. "So, do get to the point already. We are wasting daylight here. You may not be concerned with waiting, but us mortals are."

"Such fire! And in one so young!" Hugh Priest grinned. "Fine, Yurei-san. I shall get to the point. Kamijou Touma!"

"H-Hai!?" Touma managed to splutter over the argument between the two girls(How the heck it evolved from scolding Touma to fighting each other, Percival and Touma have no clue. And Touma was even there!)

"Become our Scorer, and obtain the altar of the gods."

* * *

"...Huh?"

"Oh dear, perhaps I got ahead of myself." High Priest muttered. "Let me reiterate. Be the Scorer of us, the True Gremlin."

"...I'm sorry, but I have no clue what you are talking about."

"Oh, what is this feeling?"

"Probably hurt. After all, a person you sought after is giving you dead fish eyes."

"This is a rather unpleasant feeling." High Priest leaned on his golden blade. "I suppose it would be better to explain it from the beginning."

"As you know, humans have desires." High Priest tapped on the hilt of his golden blade. "Wealth. Fame. Pleasure. Just to name a few. But, us Magic Gods, we have no need for this. We have no interest in ruling the world, or killing those who would threaten us. What need is there when you can just snap your fingers and obtain whatever you desire?"

With his hands that seemed ready to fall of, he spread then wide, golden blade held loosely in his left hand. "And in Gremlin, there are dozens of us Magic Gods. It is not like the group Othinus led, nor is it a mix of Science members and Magicians. No. It is made purely of us Magic gods."

Touma felt a cold chill go up his spine. _MORE Magic Gods..._

"But, of course, there is a reason this organisation was formed. Simply put, there are too many of us." High Priest's outfit smoothly hanged from its black rag-like robes, into one that someone would usually find on a typical egyptian priest. A leather animal skin from a leopard was wrapped around his chest, momentarily exposing his mummified body, before it was covered with a purple silk robe. This was also tied by leather, this time cow, wrapping around his stomach area. A symbol was drawn in the centre, most likely to show which god or goddess he once worshipped. "As you have seen, we Magic Gods have the ability to change the world as we see fit. However, there is but one world."

"So,a battle of resources then? Like, one canvas, but too many painters?"

"Yes. And Gremlin was the solution to that. However, it was only temporary. So, we decided to find a new solution. You."

"Me?"

"Yes. See, we are beings that wish to paint the world we see fit, with our own version of happiness. But, with so many of us, what would happen if there was only one resource, enough for only **one of us**?"

Seeing Touma's pale face, High Priest smiled. "Yes, it is as you think. A fight. A fight for the ownership of this resource. However, such a fight amongst us Magic Gods would end up destroying the resource we so desire. Hence, we came to the conclusion of requiring outside help."

"We need someone to help us. We have no interest in the outside world. We are only interested in our own. A house full of infighting is nothing more than a house of cards in a windy area. Focusing on it is as meaningless as trying to build a house made of paper and glue in a hurricane."

"Do you understand now? We mean no harm. However our own individual ideals prevent us from reaching our own happiness."

Touma could see it, as well as the others. Humans are selfish. Gods, even more so. They would not try to compromise. No, they would put up a fight over their own ideals of happiness. One so large, no one could manage it.

"And that is where you come in, Kamijou Touma. For us, you are our Scorer. A person who could help us with our problems. For us, you are the Scales of Anubis, the Avalon of our Excalibur."

"?"

"Oh dear. Perhaps I misjudged you. Your lack of knowledge in Magic is too great. What I am saying is that even Gods have tools to help them. Some are to help them judge if their actions are just, or if their actions of right. And for us, Kamijou Touma, **you **are that tool. We are not interested in the outside world. That is something I can say on behalf of **all **Magic Gods. But, what we do for our won desires? Be it a fight, peaceful talks with no violence, or even a simple game, our **own actions** can destroy the very world we seek. But, if there was a way for us to direct our wishes into a single point...it would be you, Kamijou Touma."

The cold feeling Touma had felt at the beginning began to grow in the pits of his stomach, like a patch mold.

"Kamijou Touma. You are but a 'simple' high school boy. You, who stopped World War 3 with a single fist. You, who worked out a compromise with the extreme irregularity known as the Imagine Breaker. You have said repeatedly that you are an ordinary high school boy. But, are you really?"

"You talked to and saved Othinus. A Magic God, just like me. You have helped stop many things that went on behind the scenes in the world. Can you really say that you are just 'an ordinary high school boy' ?" Silence was met with that statement. "I guess not, eh? Kamijou Touma?"

"Gremlin could be called the keyboard connected to the world, and destiny. Simply having a person push or pull at it is enough to distort the current age. Whether we do something, or do nothing at all, the current age would be affected. Magic Gods, even more so." High Priest smoothly spoke an unbelievable, yet undeniable, truth.

"That is why we want a canary in the coal mine, so to speak. We ant to set our feet down such that no one is affected. But, our very being prevents us from doing so. Is everyone truly happy? Is all well? We want to know these answers, so we need to get them from a smaller perspective One of the ants crawling on the earth. "

"I-is that so?" Misaki finally worked up her courage to speak. High Priest's figure, as well as his very nature as a Magic God, had made her subconsciously stop talking. Anger helped unfreeze her, but only for a moment. It was just now that she managed to get back her bearings. "But, why Touma?"

"It is **because **of what he did that we want him, little girl." He eyed Misaki's bust before he laughed. "...or not, judging by your chest."

Feeling violated, Misaki attempted to cover her impressive bust. It only managed to make them look bigger.

"So," Kamijou summed it up with a gulp. "Gremlin has no interest in world domination, nor intend to wipe out the human race. The Magic Gods only want to live happily, hidden away from prying eyes. That's all you want?"

"Yes."

"Then why ask me to help you? Why would you be worried about us humans."

"We aren't. Not really, anyway. This is just a slight concern."

"I recently learned of these...net cafes." High Priest stared at Touma as he spoke, unnerving the boy slightly. "They have security measures and programs, and would give you the 'No threats found' message when you run the program or a diagnostic. This is more or less what we want when it comes to you, Kamijou Touma. A safety measure, to help reassure us that all is well. It does not matter if you use our power for your own gain. Destroy nations, or save them from total destruction. In fact, we will not burden you, our scorer, with the actions and responsibilities of a Magic God. We just wish for external evidence we need to rest easy. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But, that still does not explain why you chose me." Touma brought it round back to the question that was on everyone's mind. "Why me? You could have chosen another person that was wielding Imagine Breaker, yet you chose me specifically." A bolt of lightning seemed to strike Touma as he thought of something "Please don't say that it was something like drawing lots on which wielder of Imagine Breaker should help you?"

"..."

"...Such Misfortune..." Touma took High Priest's silence as a yes.

"Ah, no. I am afraid you have that completely wrong, and backwards as well, if you are thinking that we chose you for what you have done." High Priest spoke in a slightly apologetic, yet condescending, tone. "From the very beginning, you were the scorer meant to view the world. You were the being hypothesized by us Magic Gods who are the gears of the world. That is why you worked toward a resolution without going off track during those events you went through. Imagine Breaker is merely an addition to your true nature. Or rather, it was drawn in by your true nature. The name 'Kamijou Touma', 'the One who Purifies Gods and Slays Demons', was not given to the power of your right hand. It was given to you, was it not?"

"You were chosen as our Scorer due to your very nature, your very spirit, that befits the name of the One who Purifies Gods and Slays Demons." High Priest explained. "And this is not a bad deal for you either. Out of all the various world-shaking incidents that had occurred within your reach, how many people were injured or lost on the way to those conclusions? You completed everything from beginning to end, but have you ever scored a perfect 100 as you did so?" High Priest gave Touma a moment to digest this little fact. "If you score us and you alter the world as you wish, the distortions brought by us Magic Gods can change that."

That was likely true.

He only had to think back to Othinus. A single Magic God had done so very much, but now he was being told he would receive unconditional assistance from every Magic God in the history of the world. The puny boy's prayers would be placed on the rails set up by the gods. And there were no side-effects and he did not have to give anything up in exchange. It would all be accomplished from some distant place. The High Priest had said something about being weakened, but what did that matter?

Mostly any incident would be over in a single second. In fact, would any incidents be allowed to begin in the first place? "You will be the security software that gives us peace of mind when you tell us there is no problem and you will gain control of memory. You will literally receive access to the power of the gods and to destiny."

It was a decisive statement. "By controlling those distortions, you will indirectly be able to mimic being a Magic God. Your world will belong to you and your influence can cover this world in which six or seven billion people live. You can eliminate any tragedy before it occurs, no hatred will ever grow, and you will live in a world where everyone is happy and fulfilled. After World War III and the business with Othinus, you should already know your decisions can influence the world. There is no reason to think too hard about it. You can simply think of it as gaining the ultimate trump card for everything you...no, everything the entire Kamijou Faction has been doing."

Touma ignored the part about the Kamijou Faction. If he **really ** thought about it, what High Priest was saying is the truth. If he obtains the power of the Magic Gods by becoming their Scorer, so many problems could be resolved. After all, how much had happened because of his powerlessness?

Terra of the Left had died. Ollerus nearly died. Misaka Mikoto had half of her 'Sisters', the clones, killed. Accelerator had to face the pressure of killing the clones(Granted, he could have chosen not to do so, but the constant atacks on him had drove him pass the breaking point. Thankfully, he regretted it and tried to stop them via some rather cruel and heartless tactics). And many, many other things.

But what if he had the power to change all that? A world that was happy? Like Othinus's world of smiles? Touma knew the results of this selfish wish of his. He had seen it firsthand.

Famine all around the world would end.

People will pass from old age instead of dying from illness or human hands.

All the world would be a happy utopia. No conflict. No famine. No illness. Only happiness.

..

..

..

..

..

...But was it truly fine? This way of saving everyone? Of allowing everyone to keep their smiles?

"Now that you have understood, Kamijou Touma," High Priest raised his hand, allowing it reach out to Touma. The boy gazed at the dried, mummified hand. The gesture was obvious. It was one he had done may times.

A handshake.

"Become the Scorer of the Magic Gods. Obtain the altar of the Gods."

* * *

**AN**

**Whoop the doo. This is gonna be posted a little early. I need to focus on the next couple of chapters, so expect some confusion and some things not making sense, I suppose.**

**Right now, plot-wise, this is going along quite fine. However, details-wise, this fic is going off the rails. Choo choo, its crashing through!**

**No, seriously, the details are all going haywire, even for me, the PLANNNER! Originlly, I was planning to follow the LN with little changes, but then, I thought, "Thats cool and all, but that would make absolutely no sense. I am at Dianoid. LN is at school." So, I threw everything into a mixer, and blended. Result:Trash.**

**But, I have to continue. So, I am gonna do some editing here and there. Also, to address some reviews...**

**Cbustroyer: **Yeah, sorry about my PM. Yep, this arc is gonna be retconned. Just a bit, though.

**Mosdra Kazuma: **Yep yep yep! We have some elements from the LN. It IS a fanfic after all. Although, there will be some key differences, seeing as this is further up the Toaru timeline, and with an OC character.

**Whelp, that's all folks! Anime is life, keep clean in this period of unrest, and make sure that everyone of you is healthy! Plus, let us all hope that those infected recover from Covid-19.**


	12. High Priest, Pt2

_I__talics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

**Chapter 11:High Priest, Part 2**

"Become the Scorer of the Magic Gods. Obtain the altar of the Gods."

High Priest looked very confident as he asked, no, told, Touma to be the Scorer of the Magic Gods. A dry wind blew pass the small group, ruffling their hair and clothes, but none of them were bothered by it.

"No."

Touma's response did not seem to faze High Priest in the slightest. His mummified hand remained in the air.

An altar had been created for him, giving him the controls to the world, but Kamijou Touma rejected it all.

"What you are talking about may seem like a perfect world at first glance. In fact, it is not too different from the world that Othinus showed me at that time. A perfect world. One full of smiles. But that is all it is. Perfect **at first glance**. It could be a rein of terror, forcing everyone to conform to a person's ideals. There could be dealings in the dark that 'silence' people who are unable to conform to those ideals. It's no different to saying that a person is happy because they have food, clothes and water, but is living in solitary confinement."

"...Oho?"

"And just from your words just now, it seems that you think that there will be conflict if you leave us humans be. You believe that the conflict needs to be eliminated ahead of time, so you want me to be the warden of a prison. Keep order and peace in the world."

"Who is to say that this is how the world works? Those people that are sneaking in the shadows? They could have been preparing a surprise for their friends! Their family! Their lover! Doing something like this, its just going to create new reasons for conflict! How is this any different from a corrupt policeman, an arsonist firefighter, or even a murdering judge?"

"Even all that you have seen, you still believe-no, claiming, that people **are essentially good?**" Sighing, High Priest lowered his hand. "But, then again, this is the main reason we want you as our Scorer. It is exactly because you are not eager to accept that you are perfect for what we want. Unfortunately, this is not the result we are looking for. This is not the end result we desire."

The chill Touma had been feeling all this time, it began to finally reach his heart. Its cold, cold, embrace chilled hi to his very core. It was then that Touma knew. His gut feeling was telling him to get everyone out of here. He knew, if he said the wrong things, everyone around him, no, **the world**, would be at risk. So, he had to let this situation play out, until it was safe once more. "Are you saying that I should change my decision?"

"Yes. It is merely a matter of sooner or later. Will you catch on before or after losing something? Isn't that right? After rejecting our offer, you are sure to try to resolve the next incident that occurs. And that remains true whether you are aware of it or not. So will you fight the old-fashioned way and create needless damage or will you reach for the cheat codes right away and end it all with no one hurt? ...The path you take may be a little different, but you will find yourself in the same place in the end. You will resolve the incident. The question is how many will have died along the way."

"..."

"I find it baffling that you would still refuse my hand. You stand before the path to a future where no one has died and everyone is smiling together, so why would you intentionally choose the path of death? And I am talking about the lives of those around you, not your own life."

Even though he knew that what he chose was right, he still felt unsure about his choice. Was it truly right?

Then, he recalled what Will-chan had told him in Othinus's omega-world. Will-chan, the culmination of the Misaka Network's egos and consciousness, had told him that there was a distortion even in that happy world where everyone seemed to have been saved. The puny human's only weapons may have been selfishness and a desire to have things for himself, but he had been saved by the fact that people will risk their lives for worthless things like that.

_People can easily become puppets, _Touma thought to himself. _One of our base desires is being selfish:Having things at to ourselves. It can be considered our freedom, even. Once we lose that, lose our freedom, we can become but mere puppets being controlled by the strings of a puppeteer. This ideal world of no starvation, no poverty, no sickness and equality? This is nothing more than an illusion. An illusion which seems ideal to only the one pulling the strings._

_Index would seem happy. As would all my friends. But, in the end, it is an illusion of being happy. We would be tricking ourselves that we would be happy, even though our freedom has been taken away._

"I am choosing this path, High Priest." Touma stated firmly. "This position of being the Scorer of Magic Gods? It sounds great, it really does. But, High Priest, I won't go with you. It doesn't matter how much power you'll unconditionally lend me, I just can't allow that future. And if anyone can give you what you want as long as they have what it takes to be your scorer, then I can't just ignore this."

"...I see..." High Priest attempted to speak further, but Touma was on a roll.

"You said that I would have the power to end any disaster? To stop anything bad before it happens? Unfortunately, that looks too me like a disaster-in-the making. If anyone you chose had this power, they could change the world, twist it so thoroughly, that people may not know what is right, what is wrong, what's real and what's fake! I can't just ignore it if you are willing to lend out this much power to anyone," Bringing up his right fist, he clenched, showing it to High Priest's face. ",then I would stop you right here, right now, and shatter that illusion of yours of controlling those ants you speak of!"

* * *

All was quiet.

Nothing had interrupted them. Nothing had changed. No one had died, nor had anyone been injured. In fact, one could have said that nothing had occurred at all.

Yet, for those present, once they heard Touma speak one of his famous words, that felt a shift.

A shift in High Priest's mood.

"...I see...But, Kamijou Touma, I believe I said it earlier, didn't I? It does not matter what **your choice is.** It is a matter of sooner or later, of when you have lost something or not. We desire that you be our Scorer. I believe I said that earlier, did I not?"

The mummified hand finally dropped down. As did all the formalities and pleasantries.

"**I really cannot fanthom as to why you would agree only after you have lost something, Kamijou Touma." **

The hair on Touma's arm bristled.

A jolt ran up his spine.

Colossal arms made of dirt rose up from behind High Priest's form. He had not moved an inch, not perturbed by the mini earthquake in the slightest, as he displaced what looked like a few hundred kilograms worth of soil and dirt.

"**Perhaps you would agree after I kill your friends. Starting with that blonde one."**

"!?"

His body reacted faster than his mind.

Moving on instinct, Touma grabbed Misaki with his left hand, pushing her towards the Saint, before he too retreated, hand already up in case he need to use its ability. One of the hands came down like a large dump-truck falling down at terminal velocity, smashing the area that the girls had been standing. Thankfully, Touma had just managed to dodge out of the way, the only damage he recieved being some rocks that peppered his back.

Both girls were in motion a few seconds the hand came down. Mikoto had used a combination of her powers and her athletic body, jumping out of range of the massive hand plunging down towards her location. Kaori, having understood Touma's intention, grabbed onto Misaki with both her arms, using her Saint abilities to dash both of them out of harms way.

Having gotten to safety, the teens looked back towards the targeted area. What they saw made their eyes widen in shock and terror.

A large handprint had been imprinted into the very place the girls had been standing, nearly half a meter deep. The trees, stone pavement, and benches that had been there? All flattened like a pancake. It was like watching a 3-D item suddenly become 2-D. Only, in this case, the 2-D item was being viewed from the top perspective of the 3-D item.

_The force need to make the objects flatten so perfectly like that, as well as the speed..._ Mikoto analysed the attack, her body half frozen in fear and awe. _..that's at least 454,000(*1*)newtons of force! AND that is assuming his arm was made from at most 1000kg of dirt!_

"Ku ku ku" The mummy-like Magic God cackled. "How long would it take, eh, Kamijou Touma? How much more death and incidents must occur before you agree to be our Scorer?" He swung down his arms once more, this time in a sweeping motion. One headed towards Mikoto. The other, towards Kaori, who was still holding onto the busty Level 5.

_Shit!_

Acting quickly, Touma brought out his right hand as he ran towards Kaori and Misaki. Right now, Kaori was unable to draw her blade, much less use her wires to cut the arm in-front of her. If she tried to do so with Misaki clinging onto her back, she might have been able to pull it off, albeit at a much lower output and speed then she liked. But, factor in Misaki's inability for anything sporty, Kaori carrying said Level 5 in the famed 'Princess carry', and the max speed she can move at being drastically reduced due to having an extra passenger, she could only dodge the attacks aimed at her for so long.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Touma. His right hand was close to touching High Priests's earthen arm. But, the arm was closer to touching the pair of girls then he was going to hit the arm.

_Make it in tiiiiiiimmmmmeeee!_

* * *

It happened in what seemed to be an instant.

One moment, High Priest was about to smash into the two friends of Imagine Breaker in front of him. The next, both him and the two girls were gone. "What is this?"

"I am afraid you are out of luck, old man."

_Oho?_ Raising a withered brow, High Priest looked at the fifth person that was here. "As long as I am here, some things would not go according to what you want." Percival cracked his knuckles. The metal band like item that had wrapped itself around his left forearm had become a cannon. As he watched, the cannon morphed into a shield. A large buckler.

_This mana flow..._ High Priest noticed for the first time the unique mana of the enemy in front of him. "Who are you, little boy? You have peaked my interest once again, this time with that strange mana of yours."

"As I said before," Percival got into a battle-ready stance. "I am Yurei Percival. An ordinary person."

* * *

_...What..._ "Yeouch."

Touma was hurting all over his body. He was pretty confused. The last thing he remembered was reaching out to save Kaori and Misaki. One blink later, and he found his entire body to be sore, like he had just ran a marathon. Thankfully, there was some soft things to soothe his body.

..

..

..

...wait, soft?

"Touma..." A familiar voice called out from ahead of him. Eyes widening, he raised his head...

...and saw his own death as he witnessed a blue lightning bolt fly to his face.

"Such Misfortune!" Screaming out his catchphrase, Touma attempted to leap out of the way. Four things happened in quick succession.

First: a piece of the earth(likely from High Priest's arms) hit Misaka in the small of the back, causing her to loose his balance. Her lightning strike hit the piece of earth instead, obliteraing it into fine particles.

Second: His body had suddenly stopped responding to his commands, causing him to fall back onto the ground. His right arm, which he had attempted to raise to defend himself, remained raised.

Third: The two bodies of the girls he had attempted to save were curled up around him. Misaki was partially unconscious, using her body(especially her bust) to snuggle up to his left side. At his legs, he saw Kaori trying to get up, but failed to as she was too overcome by embarrassment when she realized the provocative position(In her mind) she was in. Her brain seemed to explode, steam rising from the top of her head as a cherry-red blush overcame her features.

And fourth: Mikoto, having lost her balance, fell forwards, landing on top of the disabled Touma. Her face, red from anger(And embarrassment, not that he knew it of course.) was the last thing he saw before he felt something on his lips. Something soft, yet mildly sweet.

It took him a hot minute to realize that he was** kissing the girl on top of** him. And as fate would have it, his right arm(which was **still** not responding to his commands) fell on top of the girl's head effectively sealing the deal, if it was not sealed before. A faint scent washed over Touma's partially covered nose.

_a floral smell...roses? No, its jasmine..._

* * *

Misaka Mikoto was in deep, deep turmoil.

Why, you ask? It was simple. What she had witnessed.

After dodging the attack from High Priest using a combination of her electromagnetism and pure force via electrical discharge, she witnessed Percival fighting High Priest.

Dodge, parry, dodge, slash, dodge, shoot, dodge whip, whip, counter, kick, bash...

A flurry of movements were used by Percival. But the main thing he noticed was that he was using different weapons. After using the shield to parry an attack from High Priest's earthen arms, he would use a large gauntlet to whip his face, which turned a 180 degrees with a sickening crack. Of course, that did not deter the Magic God in the slightest, instead using his control over the earth to create a wave of dirt, forcing the gray-blonde haired boy back. Both parties used that time to regain their composure. High Priest used it to set back his head, forming a pair of arms once more, while Percival morphed his gauntlet into a whip, using it to fend of the attacks thrown by High Priest's arms of earth.

" Kah kah kah kah kah!" With a jolt of horror, Mikoto realised that High Priest was **laughing in joy.** "It has been so long since I have been injured! Youg boy, please, entertain me more! I can get Kamijou Touma to agree to be our Scorer after you die. That should be more than enough incentive for him to agree!"

"Screw you, old man." Percival responded calmly, even though his face was laced with frustration. He noticed Mikoto, who was looking at the battle, out of the corner of his eye. "Misaka-san! Get out of here! I will hold off this battle-crazed god for a few minutes then rejoin n you guys!" Dodging another earthen fist, he morphed the gauntlet into a mace, using it to smash the fist as he dodged it. "Go! Get Kamijou-san out of here! This old man only wants him, so follow that idiot to make sure he does not do anything reckless!"

Finally, Mikoto used her legs to move. She did not know where the spiky-haired boy was, but that was an easy fix.

Sending out a pulse, she located the deadzone on her 'radar' known as the boy called Kamijou Touma. _Found him!_

Rounding the corner, she landed softly on the ground, using her powers to help with her descent. Which then led to a series of events best explained in five sentences.

Mikoto got jealous. Fired off her electiricty.

Pieces from the fight behind her hit Mikoto.

Mikoto fell and kissed her crush, AKA Kamijou Touma.

Touma's hand fell onto her head.

Mikoto obtained the following status effects: Charmed, Lovestruck, paralysis, confusion and embarrassment

_Wha-wa-wha-wha-_ Her eyes began to have swirls in them as she started to comprehend the situation she was in. _ WHAT THE HELL IS THE IDIOT DOING!_

In the deep corners of her mind, she knew that this was also part of her fault, as she wanted to kiss her crush for quite a while now. But the dominant part of her(the tsun- part that only came out when faced with Touma) was denying that small little bit of her brain over and over again. Trying to deny that she was, no, **is** enjoying the kiss that her crush was giving her, even if it was accidental.

The two finally brought themselves out of their funk when Misaki, who had fully regained her consciousness, used her powers on Mikoto.

***Zap***

""Ow!"" Shocked by the pain, the two finally separated. A string of saliva was also connected between the two, the small line glistening in the lig-

"Hello?" Misaki dragged up the still shocked Saint(Or attempted to. She was not light, nor was Misaki able to lift up a fourth of a person's weight) "Your flirting ability is as great as always, Touma-kun, but there is a crazy Magic God after you, if you have forgotten." A loud crash landed near them, as did a small crater. "See?"

* * *

"Urgh," Percival crawled out of the small crater he had made when High Priest flung him. _Shit, this is though without using any abilities. But, it is best to keep trump cards secret. So, I will have to stick to only one category for now, if I ever have to resort to using it. _ Then, he noticed the girls and Touma. "What? Why are you- You know what? Forget it. Just get out of here! Now!"

* * *

"Got anything fast?" Touma asked the obviously peeved Percival.

"I guess..." Percivall shrugged. "But its only good for short bursts. And, if I use it too long, I would be little more then dead weight."

"Not that we have much of a choice." Touma had understood something very important as he had been kissing Mikoto(His brain had been mainly thinking of ways to stay alive when the brown haired girl had fully processed what happened.) "But right now, we should get as much distance from High Priest. That is the main priority. But, don't overexert yourself too much, Yurei-san." Touma added. "I need your help right now."

"Of course. We can talk later on about what you were doing just now while I was distracting High Priest." The stare Percival gave Touma felt like it was piercing his heart. ..._Sorry, Yurei-san..._

Sighing audibly, Percival went to work. As Touma watched, his shield morphed forms. _Yurei-san's shield is j__ust like Leivinia-san's wand..I think..._

"Form Morph!" Percival held out his hands, as if he was expecting a hug. Or waiting for something to drop. "Glider!"

It looked similar to a video about a seed growing into a tree. At first, there was a frame of the entire glider. Places for the passengers, the glider's 'wings', and what looked like thrusters. Then, the frame started to be filled in. The 'wings' became bigger and longer. The thrusters began to gain a clear shape, with finer details popping out. And finally, there was a steering wheel, plus three bags that were similar to sleeping bags. However. they were in the shape of a humanoid figure, instead of just one, long bag. Also, the arms, feet and lower legs were exposed, giving it the impression of a harness and jumpsuit.

All in all, it took around 10 seconds for the glider to be finished.

"Shokuhou-san and Misaka-san would be with me." Percival began to strap the unconscious girl into the harness like thing. "Shokuhou-san would help with getting innocent people out of the way, while Misaka-san would help me look for somewhere for us to hide from that Magic god when she wakes up. Kanzaki-san, please carry Kamijou-san."

"Eh?"

Touma did not know how to respond when said Saint swept him of his feet. Literally, as he ended up in a princess carry. "EH?"

"EHHHHHH?!" Touma realized that he may have graduated from being a boy by accidentally having his first kiss. But that status was revoked the moment he was carried like a princess by a girl who was only a few years his senior(2 at most).

* * *

"Ho ho ho?" High Priest arrived at where he threw Percival earlier. "What is this strange thing?"

The starnge thing he was talking about was the figure of a big breasted female running at high speeds, carrying a certain misfortunate boy in a princess carry.

"Fine then." High Priest chuckled. "I shall play along with your games, Kamijou Touma. Or perhaps, it is you, Percival Yurei?" Snorting in amusement, he shook his head. "I must be getting too old for this. For me to be distracted from my goal by a young bo-No, he is no boy." He gazed at the figure, which was getting smaller and smaller with every passing second. "I do wish to know exactly **what** he is, but the objective comes first. HO HO HO!"

* * *

"Well, shit." Percival's voice echoed in the earpiece he was given. A few seconds before they had all departed, Percival gave everyone an earpiece.(Seriously, where does he get these things?)

"Hmm?" Touma risked a look back. In the current position he was in right now, Kaori's breasts were swaying a little from the speed she was running, which was easily 80km/h. So, if he turned his head, or even moved it a little, his face would come into contact with them. So, when he moved his neck a little, the breast closest to his face rested itself on his neck.

_W-what is this strange softness?! I-is this a woman's b-b-breasts?! Ah_ Touma snapped himself out of his delusions. "W-wait...Is...THAT HIGH PRIEST!"

High Priest was running at them, his posture not that different from that of a professional sprinter. His green eyes were glowing a little as he ran. And the worst part was, he seemed to be catching up.

Touma did not know if he was just playing around, or if he was enjoying this charade(Wait, aren't they the same thing?), but one thing was for certain. High Priest wanted him to be their Scorer, and he was not taking no for an answer

* * *

_(1__)-Speed mach 4,height of 25m+,3 sec to reach ground,10 metres from HP._

**AN**

**Yep, I did it. I made them kiss. How's that for a twist? (¬‿¬)**

**Regarding my last AN for the last chapter...I understand some of you might be a little confused. Understandable, seeing as I more or less admitted I screwed myself over. But the danger has passed! The plot is back on track, with the detour fully demolished!**

**Originally, it was meant to be a car(The derailment part), but I thought: That makes no sense whatsoever! So, I did this scene instead. And ironically, this happened in Railgun T, which I had not read nor watched at the time of this chapter's completion. So, yippee! A blast from the past!**

**I hope all of you will continue to review. Honestly, its a little disheartening to see few reviews. I feel like everyone is trashing my fic T_T. Please review to bring this author's soul back from the brink of death!**

**Also, I want to say something to a reviewer. In fact, it was the latest. Sorry in advance to those who are with me on this review...**

**Rant Start: I mean, seriously! This is just messed up! If I wanted to do something like that shit you suggested, I would have made the OC the protagonist, with the OC taking Touma place in all this shit! Plus, its pretty much a known fact among those who have read the LNs that Magic Gods are death incarnate if you do not have Imagine Breaker or a certain other thing. So to say my OC, whom I tried VERY HARD to balance, is going to defeat a Magic God...that's just like saying, and I quote 'the makings of a C-rated movie'. Thats like telling a guy to bake a large ass cake, but you have just done the base, and a guy suddenly says: Oh wow, this cake is so bland. There's no icing, layers, or even fruits on it!**

**Rant End.**

**...Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Sorry about that. I had to get that out of my system. If you worked on a fic u have been planning for a while now, and a guy randomly reviews or disses you that a part of the story is shit when it has been explained in the AN... Well, I bet all fic writers know what I am talking about. Especially the better ones. If the guy who wrote that particular reviwe meant no harm from it...Sorry man, but I got some irritated vibes from it, as well as some disappointment(Which has no sense, since I said that Percival was balanced after a few weeks of designing his powers...I think...)**

**Anyway, please, more reviews! And keep safe too! Also, I am looking for an artist who can help me design Percival and Touma to put as the artwork for this fic! PM me if u are interested, and I will give you the details. The best one would get the chance to design a new antagonist! For more details, please wait for the next chapter.**

**As always, Anime is Life!**


	13. The chase is on!

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

**Underlined Bold** \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

**Chapter 12: The chase is on!**

"Hmm..." High Priest had a few things running through his head as he ran towards the figures of the Saint and Kamijou Touma.

_This boy...Percival Yurei...He is an anomaly among Kamijou Touma's associates and friends. _High Priest frowned. _A magician who is an anomaly...he reminds me a little of **him**. But..._ High Priest allowed a grin to surface on his face. He had caught up to the weird contraption. _He is still a pest, unlike **him.** He is more of a bug. Yes. This boy is a flea, while **he** is a bug._

"Kah kah kah!" High Priest laughed as he got closer to the two figures. "I am enjoying this, Kamijou Touma! But I am getting closer~ If you don't hurry, I might accidentally squish one of the friendly ants around you!"

* * *

"Yurei-san, where are we right now?"

Percival raised the altitude of his glider so that it would be around 50 meters off the ground. "Not too sure. I am relatively new to this place. Shokuhou-san, do you know?"

"Hm~" Misaki hummed as she looked left and right. "From those kind people we moved earlier, we are nearing the edge of District 15."

"Got that Kamijou-san?" Percival manipulated the glider to fly a little lower. They were ahead of the duo, but not by much. So, Percival had to work quickly. By getting Misaki to control groups of people. he could use his speed to force them out of the way as far as possible while making them unconscious as well. To reduce the injuries they would sustain, he would heal them before he was too far away. It was a little crude, but it worked.

"Yeah." A moment of silence, then "Clear the way. We need to get to District 2."

* * *

"Shirai-san, will they be fine?"

Kuroko turned to face Ruiko. Currently, they were back in the 177th Judgement branch office. If one were to ask why, it would be very simple...

**Flashback**

"Yurei-san." Kuroko acknowledged Percival's presence as she teleported to the entrance of the Dianoid.

"Hello there Shirai-san." Percival's face was set in a grim face, which was very surprising, considering what he had been doing not more than a few minutes earlier. "Is something wrong?"

"Quite a few things are wrong, but for the moment, the most pressing matter would be a shriveled up old mummy."

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that please? I think I misheard you say that a shriveled mummy is the most pressing matter right now." Kuroko asked Percival, a bead of sweat dripping down her face as she cleared her ears of wax.

"A mummy is our biggest problem right now."

"Guah!" Kurko felt like she took some actual damage from the even blunter statement. In fact, she thought that she had hallucinated, seeing two arrows of yellow pierce her body, one with the words 'shriveled mummy biggest problem' , the other with the words 'did not mishear and did not hallucinate'. "Why on earth is a **shriveled** **mummy **one of the biggest problems right now?" Is what Kuroko wanted to ask, but...

"Ohh! A mummy? Like, from the movies 'T#* Mum$y' , 'T#* retu-"

"Yep." Percival gave a short answer to the smiling Ruiko. "Yes, it is a walking, talking mummy. In fact said mummy has the power to destroy the world several times over with a wave of his hand."

That made the three girls fall silent.

"Thankfully, he is here with peaceful intentions."

"Thank goodness." Kazari sighed in relief, her hand placed on her chest.

Percival raised an eyebrow as he looked at the flower-band wearing girl. "I did not say that he would try to keep things peaceful. In fact, if he has to, he would kill and destroy Academy city to achieve his goal."

There was silence as the three took in and processed this new information. Then-

"We have to warn Judgement and Anti-SKill!" Taking out her earpiece, Kuroko attempted to call the Anti-skill, only to find Percival's metal-clad hand stop her. "What?"

"Anti-skill can't help. And even if they did arrive, they would be adding to the body count." Percival muttered, keeping an eye on the small group not too far away. Right then, they had gotten into defensive positions, only to relax a couple of seconds later.

Ruiko caught on. "Magic?"

"Magic." Percival confirmed. "Right now, we are facing a very serious danger. One called a Magic god. If you want to know more, ask Othinus."

"Othinus?" Kuroko was a little apprehensive, but she kept quiet. No sense wasting Percival's time in further explanations.

"First, get back to the 177 Judgement Branch office." Percival told the three girls. "Informant would be meeting you face-to-face, along with Othinus and Index. Word of advice: Bring lots of food that is filling, yet small. That would stop you from getting your wallet dried up as fast."

"...Right..." Kuroko, Kazari and Ruiko shuddered in fear as they recalled the sight of Index going through literal mountains of food when Percival offered o pay for **one **of her meals. Just **one**.

_I know that I did it on a whim to see how much she could eat, but still..._ Percival had a few tears in his eyes as he recalled the mildly traumatic event. _Going through 20,000 yen on food for just one person was too much!_

Ruiko, however. perked up a little when she heard what Percival said. "Informant is meeting us?"

"Yep." Percival confirmed. "Also, please do not ask him to many questions. You might step on a landmine. Also, I might contact you guys later, so keep your ears open."

**Flashback end**

"Shirai-san, will they be fine?"

Kuroko turned to face Ruiko. Right now, she had her earpiece to her ear, as did the other two in the room with her.

"Maybe. That ape is there, as is Onee-sama, Shokuhou-san and that Saint." Kuroko worked on some of the paperwork on her desk while she waited for the call. "I am not too sure on Yurei-san. Speaking of, did he pass you that tablet and papers?" She had been eyeing the tablet and papers spread out on the table for a while now. Some of the formulas looked very simple. Others, not so much. That is, if you were a level 1 or 0. _As I am a level 4, my mathematics is nothing to scoff at. But, as for Saten-san, who is a level 0..._

"Oh, you mean these?" Ruiko held up the papers and tablet. "Yurei-san gave them to me. He said it might help raise my level."

"How so?"

"Erm...something about raising my calculative ability?" Kuroko felt like sweatdropping at that answer. "Even if it doesn't work out, it sure would help with my tests and stuff! Then I can help Uiharu! She helped me so much with my homework, so its time I paid her back."

"Saten-san, that's what friends are for." Kazari kept her hands moving as she looked through the documents. "...Shirai-san, remember those cases that were dome for us a month ago?"

"Yes, Uiharu?" Kuroko had nearly forgotten them, of course. After all, she had not touched them(Thank goodness for her) at all. But, thanks to Percival's warning, she recalled who had helped them do it. Informant. "Is there another case?"

"No..." Her uncertain voice made both girl currently working to stop their pencils. "The cases are all filed neatly. But, there is no trace of them in the Judgement system. Like it was wiped."

"Huh?!" Kuroko teleported to Kazari's side in her haste to reach there, despite being not more than a few meters to her right. Reaching the computer, she searched for the case files, only to meet the same files that Kazari had found. Not a single digital report on those minors cases. Yet...

"The physical reports are here, right? The ones that we made?" Kuroko asked her partner, hands gripping her chair tightly in her anxious state.

A pause. "Yeah." Kazari replied, bending down from her chair to drag out the box with the aforementioned documents. "I kept them safe because we wanted to question Informant on what he knew about the cases. Since he was coming, I thought I would bring out the digital copies, but when I searched for them, they were missing. So, I brought the physical copies out."

"...Why are they under your desk?"

"Saten-san thought there might be some things on them, like from a spy movie." Kazari pouted. "She spent HOURS on that theory, forcing me to stay with her nearly all night, which also nearly caused me to be late for school."

Said girl laughed nervously when her friends looked at her. "Eh he he. Guilty as charged?"

"Hello~ Did we come at a bad time?"

A familiar voice entered the ears of the three girls. whipping their necks to the door, so saw three very familiar figures. Well, four, if you count the cat.

"Informant?" Ruiko asked, blinking.

"Yep~" Informant gave a smile as he walked in. "Like Percival asked, I brought in Index-chan and Othinus-chan."

"Don't put '-chan' together with our names, human." Othinus scowled at Informant from her position on top of the habit which Index always wore. But, if one were to look at her face closely(for example, a certain misfortunate boy who is also an Understander of the girl named Othinus), they would realize that her glare was not as fierce as usual. Not as much...heat.

As Informant took a seat and placed the box he had brought along with him, the three girls noticed more, newer, details about him.

First, he had dirty blond hair. Well, not completely. His roots were a light brown, so it gave a clear contrast in colors on his head. His hair was also neatly combed to one side, so it left a unique hairstyle and color. Secondly, his eyes, unlike Percival's brown eyes, were of a steely grey color. His height was actually not very tall, about Percival's height. Finally, there was a pistol holstered on his left thigh, along with a glove on his left hand.

"Hmm?" Informant noticed the papers and tablet. "Did Percival give one of you this tablet?"

"Y-yeah." Ruiko stuttered a little as she responded, not expecting the tablet to be questioned. "Yurei-san gave me the tablet to help me. Why do you ask?"

"Oho?" Informant looked interested. "Is that so...I guess he cares for you guys more than I thought."

_He cares for us?Yurei-san_ _does?_ Kuroko thought to herself as she observed Informant. Right now, he was sitting down. He had gone up while he was speaking to boil some water, before he sat back down again, a cup with a tea bag inside. All that was left was for the cup to be filled with hot water, and the tea would be ready.

"Well?" Informant asked after a few minutes had passed, knocking the three girls out of their thoughts. "You gonna ask? Cause if ya ain't gonna ask some questions, I'm gonna start of on these doughnuts."

And true to his word, he began to raise a pink-glazed doughnut to his mouth.

_Is that strawberry? _Kuroko thought as she opened her mouth to start asking questions. "So, what is a Magic god, Othinus-san?" She had her reservations asking a former terrorist, but right now, she could only listen to Percival and Informant, even if she was reluctant to listen to either of them.

"Hmph. At least some of you have some manners." Shooting Informant a glare, Othinus turned back to Kuroko. "A Magic god is someone who has mastered magic, bend all things in the world without exception through magic, and has magic that transcends normal magic and steps into the realm of God. Each being has a different way to become a Magic god, but they have a few things in common. One of them being that they have to be willing to die."

"d..i..e?"

"Yes." Othinus did not even falter when she looked at Ruiko, who had repeated her. "Die. Each Magi god, before they became one, had to be willing to die to complete the ritual to become a Magic god. And in this case, High Priest is a Magic god who had become a Magic god by accident."

"Accident? Hod do you become a Magic god by accident?" Informant was surprised by this bit of information. He had just gotten back from the stove, the kettle of hot water in hand.

"He was a Buddhist priest, back when he was an ordinary human." Othinus's green eye looked over everyone present as they listened. "Buddhist priests would do self-mummification to achieve Buddhahood. They dig a room and seal it, leaving a small hole for air to circulate. A few weeks later, other priests would unseal the room and check on the priest inside. If they find all the conditions to be perfect, they would deem that priest to have achieved Buddhahood."

"High Priest, as you call him, is different. He had obviously achieved Buddhahood, yet there were certain individuals who refused to accept that he had achieved Buddhahood. What would you get from an old man who had obtained the power from self-mummification, yet was not able to achieve Buddhahood due to the stubborn mindset of those around him? The answer, surprisingly, is a Magic god."

"...How do you know all of this, Othinus-san?" Kazari asked the 15-cm former Magic god.

"I was regarded as the mythological figure Odin. And Odin was said to have hung himself from the branch of a tree of 9 days and 9 nights to obtain the power and knowledge in the nine worlds in Norse mythology. As I did the same thing, I also found out about High Priest's origin."

""You hung yourself for 9 days?!""

The three girls were shocked. Very shocked. After all, having been living in the city of Science, they did not touch mythology, what with it being regarded as past of the supernatural and religion.(which was not commonplace in Academy city)

"It is fine." Othinus waved her hand. "I found that event to be mildly entertaining at best."

"But, hanging yourself...isn't that a little too extreme for searching for knowledge?"

"And I can say the same thing about your scientists pursuit of new knowledge. Your Esper development program. Even the food you cook. Things cannot be gained, nor can progress be furthered, if we do not push the boundaries of what we already know. Besides, that hanging was essential to me becoming a Magic god. It is part of the symbolism of the myth on Odin."

_**" Hello? Shirai-san? You there?"**_ A voice interrupted the conversation. It was Percival.

"What is the situation?" Kuroko motioned for Uiharu to get to her computer and turn on her comms. Pouting, said girl did as she was told, setting down the doughnut she was about to eat with no small amount of regret.

_**"What area is the most heavily armed in District 2? Or most heavily guarded?"**_

""...""

_**"Did you guys get that?"**_

"We did, and, just wondering...WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT PERCIVAL!" Informant screamed into the earpiece he had on as well, causing the others to recoil slightly at the sudden shout. Doubly so for the people in the Judgement office branch because his voice was even louder in person

_**"I guess Informant got there safely. How you doin buddy?"**_ Percival's cheerful tone did nothing to reduce Informant's puzzlement and anger.

"Oh, I'm great- NOT! Did you think that that would work like in an anime, gozdanit!"

_**"You bit you tongue again?"**_

"Zhut it." Informant lisped. "Zo, pray tell, why are you guys heading sowards District 2?"

_**"We're gonna nuke him."**_

"...come again?"

_**"We're gonna nuke him."**_

"...I'm sorry, I think I misheard you. Could you repeat that?"

_**"We're. Gonna. Nuke. Him. "**_

"Okay." A pause, then Informant spoke. "...How exactly?"

"_**Clone wars."**_

"It says so much that I know exactly what you are thinking even though what you just said can be perceived as gibberish or nonsense." Informant sighed, much to the confusion of the girls that were in the office. "So, should I bring back up?"

_**"Shirai-san should go with you. She would need to help transport Shokuhou-san...and probably Misaka-san..."** _Percival asked the girl directly.

"Onee-sama! What happened to Onee-sama?" Kuroko frantically asked Perival, causing some to wince in pain(again) from the sudden high pitched vocal attack.

_**"...No comment..."**_

"WHY~" Kuroko screamed dramatically as the connection was cut, only to stop when she tasted something sweet being shoved into her mouth. "Mmfph?!"

"Less screaming, more teleporting teleporter." Informant grinned, licking his fingers clean of the sugary remains of the glazed doughnut he had just shoved into Kuroko's mouth. "Also, guys, help yourself to the donuts. You too Missy hiding behind the door." He added, much to the confusion of the two girls that frequented the Judgement office(One because she works there, the other cause she was the close friend of two Judgement officers), only to jump in surprise when the door opened, revealing Konri Mii in her blue vest, yellow tie and spectacles, a bag full of milk in her hands.

""Konori-san?!"" The two girls were shocked. Kuroko could not say much, seeing as she had a glazed doughnut stuffed in he mouth.

"Also, leave the glazed ones alone, unless you are feeling adventurous. I made the glaze out of sugar and capsaicin, so be careful."

The last things the 5 girls heard were the pained screams of a certain pigtailed girl before she teleported the doughnut out of her mouth and into a bin, before she teleported both her and Informant out of the room.

"...So, what is this I hear about a Magic god? And Magic, for that matter?" Mii asked the two girls present, glasses glinting menacingly, ignoring the nun, who had begun to devour some cup noodles that she was given by Kazari, as well as Othinus, who skillfully remained out of her sight.

""Ehehehe...""

* * *

"So, Yurei-san, this plan of yours...Are you sure no one is going to get hurt?"

"Technically, this also your plan, Kamijou-san." Percival gently steered the glider so that it would be be closer to the ground. "Also, prepare thyself. You might end up full of holes at the end of this."

"W-wait wait wait. You told Shirai-san!" Percival grinned when he saw Touma's panicked face. "I'm going to dieeeeeeeee!"

"Don't worry, I told nothing. Didn't you listen?" Percival showed a confused face for a second, then realized what happened. "Ohhhh, you have no idea on how to switch channels on this, huh."

"Excuse me, Yurei-san." Kaori spoke to the ash-blonde haired boy above her. "But please be wary. The Magic god is still chasing us."

As if to emphasize her point, two earthen fists were launched at the retreating pair. Kaori dodged it with her quick reflexes, while Percival shot ahead with a burst of speed, just managing to avoid being crushed to death. They quickly took a turn.

"Hoi!" With a shout, High Priest rammed into a building, unable to stop himself in time. Yet, he burst out of the cloud of dust that had appeared when he smashed into the building, looking no worst for wear.

"H-how is he still fine?!" Misaki exclaimed in shock, her eyes widening at the sight.

"Magic gods would not be stopped by something as small as smashing into a building at high speeds." Touma explained to the busty female, his face set with an passive expression. **As if he had expected this to happen. **"Even if you get Misaka-san to fire her railgun, I doubt she would do much damage."

"H-how big of a monster is that old man?" Misaki muttered in shock, looking back at the destruction caused by the running Magic god. As she had worked with Percival to clear the people, there would be a significant reduction in casualties. At most, people would get a small fracture or a broken bone, which would be healed in a matter of weeks with Academy city's technology.

"Here we are."

Percival announced to the duo on the ground after a few minutes. Touma could see the fence that separated the students from the training facilities of Anti-skill. But that left one question.

"How are we going to get in?" Touma asked the person who helped come up with the plan. "We could smash the fence." Kaori suggested. The fence was getting nearer by the second. "Please don't suggest that! With my luck, I would get blamed for the destruction of government property and have to pay for all the damages!" Touma shouted. "Kanzaki-san, could yo- yeouch!"

Touma cut himself short with a pained shout. Kaori instead gave a small gasp of shock.

"Geez, you two." Percival grunted. "Quit squirming Kamijou-san, or I'll drop you by accident. We don't want that."

"Y-yeah, with my misfortune, I might end up destroying a piece of expensive equipment or get shot." Touma agreed wholeheartedly.

Percival had grabbed onto Kaori and Touma by their arms. Touma, who was unprepared, had reflexively shouted in pain when his arm was grabbed. Kaori, being a Saint, was only shocked.

"Uh Hoi!"

And High Priest, who had been right behind the Saint and Imagine Breaker pair, crashed into the fence at high speeds.

***Boom***

The fence was destroyed with a crash. Anti-skill personal who had been training hearrd the loud crash too.

* * *

***Random POV***

When I first came to Academy City, it was solely for my personal gain.

I wanted to know about the latest technology in the field. I wanted the best equipment science could make for my hobbies.

Then, I saw the espers. The kids.

They had powers, abilities. Each of them varied, and each had differences in their usage and power. But to me, it only told me one thing. These kids, no older than 12, had abilities that could harm themselves. Or worse.

Every day on the job, I witnessed more events that I would have rather not seen.

Kids robbing experimental facilities for boosts in their esper levels

Lower level espers being bullied by higher levels just for the fun of it.

Kids becoming terrorists because of being pushed to the edge.

And that was just on the surface. The light side of Academy city, so to speak.

Low level espers used in experiments without regard for human rights.

People used as disposable pawns just to get results from a single esper.

Espers forced to do things or have things forced onto them just because of a theory.

These were things that I knew because I had been there, be it by accident or because I was hired. Of course, if any of my superiors knew about what I knew, they might fire me because of pressure from the Kiharas or the Board of Directors..

And right now, we were experiencing something that no esper could do.

For one, the attacker was an old man. All the espers in Academy city were children, so what was happening here was unlikely to be an esper himself

Secondly, I had never seen an Esper who could manipulate the minds of nearly 100 adults, unless it was the #5 Level 5 esper, and that was a stretch.

And finally, espers have no need to trick the adults or attack them for no reason. Rather, if they did, they would be found within a few days of the report by Anti-skill.

As I watched, several more of our men were brought done by the stone fists that were behind the mummy like old man.

"Hoi!" With a shout, he tossed yet 2 more of our soldiers into the air, where they landed on the ground very painfully a few seconds later. As of right now, at least a dozen had gone down, and only 5 minutes had passed!

"F-fire!" Swallowing my fear, I told my officers to use their guns on the old man.

And the same thing happened as before. Instead of being peppered by the special rubber bullets(Assault rifles against espers), or riddled full of holes(Unmanned vehicles), he did not get a single scratch on him. Not a single drop of blood was shed from the old man.

_Hopefully, this nightmare will end..._

Just as I thought that, my consciousness faded away to light...

* * *

"My my." High Priest sighed as he looked around him. "This is such a let down, especially for **him.**"

It was just a few minutes after the small group had entered the Anti-skill compound. High Priest, thirsty for some stimulation, attacked the compound with some force, hoping to get some damage like when Percival had hit his body with a bash from his weapon. And he was disappointed.

It took less than a minute to down one third of the entire force that was sent out to attack him in response to his signal. And that was only taking into account the **human** casualties. The mechanical ones were a 90 percent wipe out.

Suppression bots(Academy city's cleaner robots, modified), unmanned tanks, and multiple drones lay around High Priest, their mangled wreckage and sparks they sometimes gave out the only indication that they were even there. The unlucky unmanned weapons had been either turned to dust by the sudden immense pressure and force that was used to smash them, or was in such small, uneven pieces, they could be mistaken as pieces of concrete that was blown out from their previous places from the force of High Priest's collision into the first building he encountered when he smashed into the complex.

_Tsk._ High Priest mentally clicked his tongue in annoyance as he felt some more itches on his arm and back. "Stop your pesky irritants, you ants." Swinging his arm, the earthen hand that he had recreated(His first few were blown up by rockets) into the cloud of smoke. In response, the sound of crunching parts and wrenching metal was heard, before the remains of what looked like to be yet another drone was smashed into a nearby building, where it collapsed on itself from the flying piece of wreckage.

"Hiiiiiiigggghhhhhhh Priiieeeesssst!"

A loud shout drew his attention. _Oho?_ High Priest looked around him. The voice sounded like it was coming from multiple directions. "Kamijou Touma! If you are coming towards me, I believe it is to become our Scorer, no?"

***Gr-ack***

With a sickening crunch, High Priest felt his skull crack a little. Stunned slightly by the sudden pain he felt, he fell towards the ground.

"Not this time, High Priest." Touma stood over High Priest's downed form. "Ouch." He winced, holding onto the wrist of his right hand.

* * *

_Oooooowwwww _Touma mentally screamed in pain, doubling over from the huge jolts of pain that traveled up his arm. _Did I break my hand?_

..

**Flashback**

They were currently on a floating platform, from what Misaki told the group when she read some minds, it was created to with the floating cross that had appeared a few months back in mind. The idea was to create a mini-carrier that was camouflaged in order to respond to ambushes or do rescue operations. The main problem was the cost, so currently, Academy city was trying to streamline the production and reduce costs to build one. This one was something of a tester for Anti-skill to use and give feedback on.

"So, while the people Misaki-san is controlling retreat, I will fight High Priest?" He clarified once more. After they had escaped, Percival glided over the fence and landed onto a nearby building. Due to the awkward position he was in he fell face first onto the roof the building. After recovering from the fall, they went over Percival's and Touma's plan.

Touma tried to wrap his head around Percival's idea.

"Yeah. Then, while you hold onto him, we will bombard him with rubber bullets and tranquilizers." Percival confirmed, taking out the tranquilizers from his shield. having reverted back into this form after he got off the glider.(So THAT was where he got all of his stuff!)

"I am still not that happy with that part of the plan. Touma frowned. "I mean, I get that I said that we should get to District 2 to try to slow him down at the very least, but, why should we make our stand here? Three of the districts around us are not meant for esper fights and such. If we go through them there will be way too many casualties. And the remaining district has a NUCLEAR STATION, so if we get too close, we would have another incident on our hand!"

"Well, us being in this district is only half of my plan." Percival passed the darts and bullets he had pulled out to Kaori. "Kanzaki-san, pass this to the soldiers who get her." He instructed the Saint, before he face the holder of Imagine Breaker again. "Since Misaka-san is still out of commission from a certain **someone's kiss**," Percival glared at Touma. "We would need to stall High Priest for a while. If regular bullets have no effect, using this concentrated tranq solution and gas on him **shoul****d **help with keeping him knocked out while Kanzaki-san works on getting us out of Academy city."

"So, we will bring him out of here?" Touma frowned. "But that would just make more casualties."

"That is, if we exit into the districts or populated areas" Percival pulled out a map from his pocket. "Most of district 2 is near the populated area." He showed this to Touma. "But, there is a small location that is facing the sea. Right here." He tapped that location twice with his finger. "So, all we need to do is get High Priest over here."

"Okay...So we will fight him in the sea?"

"Not quite. We would make use of Misaka-san or Kanzaki-san's abilities later on to create an enclose location for us to fight outside Academy city. This way, even if we use a large-scale attack, or if the attack is an area effect type, we would be able to contain most of it." Percival explained further, before he tossed Touma something. "Here. Wear this when you fight against that geezer. It will help quite a bit."

**Flashback end**

_Thank god Yurei-san gave me this._ Touma watched as his hand had metal bits wrap around his hand, before they seemingly melted into his hand. Flexing it slightly, he was pleased to find little discomfort or pain. _This nano armor sure would help me when fighting against espers or magicians. It is a shame he advised me against wearing this too often._

Before he jumped off the platform, Percival had told Touma to be careful. Any damage he gets on his upper or lower body will be healed. If it was internal, healing drugs will be injected into his body. If it was broken bones, the nano machines would work to support the area while making sure the exposed area was as large as possible to make it less visible to the enemy that they were injured in that area. The drawback however was the body's natural healing rate.

The drugs were used to speed up the body's healing rate to an abnormal level. Such that a limb which had a deep cut would heal in a matter of minutes, instead of weeks. Afterwards, the body would heal at a slower rate then usual for a few days while the drug was expelled from the body. Continual use of the drug would kill the user if the ended up hurting themselves during the drug expellation process. Even something as a tiny papercut could kill a grown man in 3 days if he overused the drug.

Another reason was the nano machines. They were harmless on their own, but if used to support an area of the body for too long, they would end up absorbing themselves **into the body**. And, if a person does not have a certain object on them at all times, the embedded nano machines could be hacked and used to kill the person remotely. Stopping the heart, breaking a few bones, even something like tearing through muscles to render them useless for the person.

_Now I have to be careful not to get too injured._ Setting away that grim thought, Touma brought up the slightly dazed High Priest, taking care to keep his right hand on him. "Do it!"

"You heard the man!" Faintly, Touma heard Percival shout. "Fire at will boys!"

***Rat-tat-tat***

Multiple gun shots were heard. Touma held the old man like he was told to, keeping him in front of him like a meat shield.

"Ho...ho...ooh?!"

High Priest stirred at that exact moment, only for his eyes to widen in surprise as he faced an onslaught of darts and special bullets.

"OOOOOOHHHHHHHH!?"

High Priest could not do much as he felt the darts and bullets impact against his skin. The darts and bullets bounced off. And that was the end...Or so High Priest thought.

The moment it was seen that the darts had failed to penetrate, the darts and bullets ceased their attacks. But only for a moment, for pellets were then shot at the two.

"Wha-"

Touma was surprised when he felt the nano machines form a familiar shape that one usually saw in action movies. A gas mask. Then, he realized why.

"Oho?" High Priest's movements started to become sluggish. "What...is...this...?"

With those words, High Priest's body fell limp. _Yes! High Priest is down!_

"Yurei-san!" Touma shouted out. Strangely, the gas mask did not muffle his voice in the slightest. "High Priest is out!"

"Good!" He vaguely heard Percival's voice. "Team 1, get in and secure the target! Teams 2 and 3, help with the making of the enclosed area!"

Touma saw a small group of Anti-skill soldiers approach him and High Priest. As they got closer, he noticed that they all had stars in their eyes behind their face-guards.

_Is that what being controlled by Misaki looks like? _Touma thought that as the group held onto the Magic God for him.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Touma's hand never left High Priest's body. Not even for a second. Yet, he found himself thrown into the air.

_Eh?_

Twisting his body, he somehow managed to land on his feet instead of face first. And the scene that met his eyes...

High Priest was awake. In fact, by the way he was moving, it looked like the special tranquilizers that Percival had on him had not effected the Magic God in the slightest!

"Hoi hoi!' The Magic God gleefully chuckled as he used the earthen hands he had used to throw the small group that had held him to juggle the 6 adult bodies. "This is fun, Kamijou Touma! How about it?" He glanced at the boy in question, an eyebrow half raised. "How about we play a little game? Its called, 'Be our Scorer, or have 6 innocents killed?"

Touma did not know how to respond. His mind was furiously working out ways to save the 6 men and women.

***Crack***

He winced when he saw two of the Anti-skill members get smashed heavily into the ground. From their forms, it was easy to tell they were alive. They were wearing heavily padded armor meant to soften heavy blow. It was also resistant against all of the elements, so it was hard to destroy it when facing a level 1 or 2. But that did not protect them from falling from a high height.

"High Priest!"

Dashing forwards, Touma launched himself against the Magic God, leaving everything to his instincts.

"Oh ho?" High Priest smiled. "Kamijou Touma. Shall I take it that you are being hostile? In that case, let me get rid of-"

"Try next time!" Touma shouted out as he slid on the ground, making use of the nano armor to give him a greater slide time.

Not expecting this move, High Priest momentarily stared at the level 0. And that was all the time he needed to put his plan into action.

***Ra-tat-tat***

A single gun was fired. Laughing High Priest attempted to use the remaining Anti-Skill members as shields to block the bullets. Instead, green smoke burst to life.

_What? _High Priest looked around him, then he realized his mistake. _I see..._

When Touma rushed forwards, he had done what he did best. Improvise.

He already had a gun. A semi-automatic pistol, actually. It had been heavily modified so that there was little recoil when fired, and had a decent range of fifty metres. It had also been modified to take in **any type of bullets.**

Pistol. Assault. Sniper. And Explosive. These four types of rounds could be inserted into the special magazine that was fitted onto his pistol. And it was given to Touma earlier(Percival forced it on him , in addition to the nano armor and a comms link in case they got separated.) so that he could use it for self-defense, however unlikely it was.

The gun itself was empty, but that was no problem. There was plenty of ammunition lying around. When High Priest had thrown the small squad into the air, it had also forced the guns to be destroyed, exposing its contents to the world.

Including the clips of ammunition.

Essentially, Touma had created a smokescreen out of the remaining pellets left in the guns. It would knock out the Anti-skill members for quite a while, but that is a much preferable alternative to death. Unfortunately...

"Uh hoi!"

"-! Gah!"

Touma's sneak attack from his blind side failed.

"Dear boy," High Priest began. "Did you really think that would be enough to stop me? I can tell where you are. I also know about your tricks. It **is** part of the reason we chose you to be our Scorer after all."

He watched with disinterest as Touma's body crashed into a nearby light pole. "It does not matter how I do it. We will not take a 'No' for an answer. You **WILL **be our Scorer."

"***cough*** You think that will change my mind?" Touma struggled to get up. "If you want me to be your Scorer...Then it would never happen."

"Never say never, my dear boy." High Priest chuckled. "Perhaps a few dead bodies will do the trick."

"No!" Touma tried to stand, only to fall to his knees again. It seemed that one of his legs had been broken.

Raising an earth fist, High Priest brought it down with one swing from his golden blade.

...Only to find...nothing...

"Hmm?" High Priest used his fists to instead blow the remaining green smoke. And all that was left was a crater, some parts, and darts. But no bodies. And definitely no blood.

"Did you plan this, Kamijou Tou..." High Priest turned around to ask his future Scorer, but once more found nothing. Only empty air and a dented lamppost.

For the first time, High Priest let out a stupid sound. "...Eh?..."

* * *

"Jeez." Touma heard a familiar sounding voice amidst the haze of pain clouding his vision. "Ape, you sure know how to become a punching bag."

His eyes tried to focus on the hazy figure hovering over him. "...Shirai-san?"

"Yes, you ape." Kuroko huffed. "How on earth did you end up in this state?"

"Well," Percival's voice resounded through both his ears and skull. "He faced a Magic God with no plan. So, he ended up in this sorry state. Also, your 'Onee-sama' is lying in that bed over there."

"Onee-sama!" Through his blurry sight(It was getting better with every second), Touma saw what he assumed to be Kuroko shaking Percival back and forth. "What happened to Onee-sama!"

"C-calm down Shirai-san!" Touma's eyesight cleared up in time for him to see Percival clasp his hands firmly onto the twin-tailed girl's soldiers. "She is FINE. Aside from some sort of temporary memory loss. In fact, she is waking up right now, so you can ask her all about it."

"Onee-sama!" With a soft sound of displacing air, Kuroko teleported to Mikoto's position.

Smiling a little, Percival approached the prone form of Touma. "How you feeling?"

"...Bad..." He admitted. Wincing, he tried to sit up, only to fall back into the lying position he was in with a heavy grunt. Percival walked in a faster pace, reaching Touma to help him into a sitting position. "Careful. You have a bruised rib, two broken bones, and a sprained wrist."

"How did I get those?" As Touma asked that, he had a small inquling of how he got them, but he would prefer to get a second opinion. Especially from someone who could **actually** perform first-aid.

"The first broken bone is in your hand. Your right index finger, to be exact. You broke it when you hit High Priest on his crown. Seems like you put too much force on a particular spot, so it broke." Percival sighed as he sat opposite the teen. "The wrist is also from that same swing. Only difference being that you sprained it instead of breaking it, so that is a plus. Those two injuries, I more or less predicted it. It was the first time you wore body armor as heavy as this and jumped off a floating platform 5 stories up and punched someone. In fact, I am more surprised that you did not break more bones!"

"And my other broken bone?"

"When High Priest threw you into the lamppost. The bruised rib is also from that act." Percival shrugged. "These can all be healed in a few days. And some in an hour or so if I use my abilities."

"Where are we?" Touma asked as he shifted his body into a more comfortable position, wincing in pain as he did so.

"We are inside one of the moving trucks. Its been redesigned to be a camper van. Wonder why..." Percival seemed to ponder on it for a few seconds before he shrugged again. "Anyway, I got my friend Informant to drive, which is at the front. We are in the middle, which also has a kitchen opposite where you are resting. And at the back is where there the bed and shower areas are. Its a little cramped, but what can we do?"

"I see..." Touma winced in pain once more.

"Hold on. **{****Heal}**." A green light enveloped Touma's entire body except his right arm. Touma, feeling the warm light that enveloped him, let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding in. "Wow. That feels better."

"Right?" Percival smirked, before he frowned. "Unfortunately, this also means I am stuck as a supporter for the next half-hour."

"Another restriction?" Touma guessed. He had been thinking about Percival's abilities ever since he explained them. From what he had said back then, it gave him a feeling. He had felt that feeling many times.

It was the feeling of someone leaving something out.

"Yeah." Percival sat down heavily next to the injured teen. "I said that I had four categories. Mimicry. Esper. Shield. And Magic, remember? Well, If I use one of the four categories, I will be stuck in that category for the next hour, before it 'resets', enabling me to choose another category or stick to the one i am currently using. And, since I chose my Shield category, I am pretty much a frontline attacker, with healing capabilities. And, I am unable to access my other abilities, unless I use one of my trump cards, But I would prefer to keep them hidden."

"So...what now?"

"Right now, we are just driving about aimlessly." Percival continued to heal Touma, this time working on his leg. The earlier heal had helped relive his body of pain, but now it was coming back, albeit less intense as before. "No clue when High Priest might arrive, so we are just driving about District 2 in circles near the edge. Shokuhou-san is working to keep the Anti-skill members out of this area. Kanzaki is working on that hole as we speak. In an hour, we should have a big enough hole to drive through, along with some special metal I found that might kill that Magic God."

Touma just hummed in thought as he listened to Percival's words, lost in thought.

Silence enveloped the two. Then,

"High Priest." Touma suddenly spoke up. "He said that he could tell where I am. But, if that was the case, why did he not know where I was coming from at first?"

"Maybe its because you were dragged here by me?" Percival worked on his ribs next.

"No." Touma shook his head. "If that was the case, he would have also known about my plan to reduce casualties as much as possible by leading him to a military installment. I chose to go to a military installation to slow him down, so that Kanzaki-san would prepare for us an area to fight by placing down a number of paper warding charms. If he truly knew about me, he would have predicted that and just gone on a rampage."

"Maybe he was just a batshit crazy old geezer."

"And also, how DID he know I was at the Dianoid for that matter? I could have been in school, in my apartment. Even out of Academy city! Yet, he zeroed in on my exact location." Touma continued muttering, ignoring Percival's claims of the Magic God being crazy.

* * *

A few dozen kilometres, a certain old man sneezed.

"A-choo!" He sniffled. "Where is Kamijou Touma?" He looked around him. "I could create lots of destruction at a populated area to get him to come to me, but there seems to be no one around me. Only buildings. Hmm?"

His eyes were caught by a display that was behind a fence.

"What is this?"

* * *

Touma thought back to what had occurred from then to now. _When I was at the Dianoid, when I jumped him, and when I tried to knock him out again...What was the differences?_

His mind went to the timing, then the locations. He also compared what he knew about magic.

_...Is it?_ Touma's mind thought up of a single possibility. _...Perhaps it is that. But-_

" 'But how will you know if your theory is correct.'. That is what you are thinking, right, Kamijou Touma?"

A new voice entered the cramped space of the van they were in.

""!?""

Shocked by this newcomer, they turned to face her.

The newcomer was female. To be precise, a beautiful woman with chocolate-brown skin and long silver hair. Under her eyes were teardrop and diamond markings. She wasn't wearing anything except the white bandages covering her body, several of which had pyramid-shaped decorations attached at the ends.

"Who are you?" Percival placed himself between the injure Touma, his shield shifting into a large shield that nearly towered over his head.

"Put that away, Percival Yurei." Another female made its presence known, appearing from behind the larger woman. She was wearing a short white China dress with very baggy sleeves, a hat and a unique charm attached to her forehead. She has an extremely pale complexion, black hair and green eyes. "We mean no harm."

"Oho?" Percival narrowed his eyes. "Since you were not in here earlier when we commandeered this vehicle, I would guess that you are Magic gods."

"That's right." The female in the China dress confirmed in a playful tone. "We came for a few things. The first of which-"

Blinking, Touma saw Percival turn around, feeling the gust of wind that had blown past his guard.

Those women had appeared, sitting on either side of the pointy-haired boy.

Percival's mouth flapped opened and closed, but the women did not seem to care.

They leaned in on Touma from either side and each grabbed one of his hands.

They then pressed those hands against their soft chests. Touma wanted to panic, but his mind had gone blank from fear and shock when he felt his hands being placed on the chests of two Magic gods

"Oh, dear. Not even Imagine Breaker is enough. I had thought I would retrieve my original power if the spell inside me was broken, but that power seems to have already completely disappeared. I suppose even this power can't remake an object that was burnt to ashes by a magical fire. ...Niang-Niang, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean, Nephthys? I'm trying Imagine Breaker on myself just like you."

"Then why are you using his left hand? It's only in his right."

"Oh, I thought any body part worked as long as you touched your breasts with it."

"Niang-Niang, that's completely backwards."

"So, your names are-" "W-what are you DOING, you **IDIOT!**"

Percival's sentence was cut off when another voice cut in.

Mikoto stood at the curtains that separated the compartment they were in from the bed and shower area. And right now, she had just walked in on what appeared to be Touma feeling up two new females chests.

Niang-Niang(who was still meaninglessly pressing Kamijou Touma's left hand to her flat chest) pointed her baggy sleeve towards Mikoto in annoyance.

**A thick blade shot from her sleeve and mercilessly stabbed into the center of Mikoto's chest.**

"Wha-?"

Mikoto's face immediately filled with confusion. As did Touma's and Percival's.

"...Ah?"

The first thing to pierce into the girl's chest looked like a crescent-shaped blade on the end of a spear. But that was not the only one. Now that Mikoto was pinned in place, a great number of weapons shot out to tear, pierce, and slice through every part of her body.

The frenzied rush of dull sounds continued for some time

The girl seemed to feel no pain and she shed no blood, but she showed confusion at the definite fact that she had been "stabbed". This was not a mental manipulation like the #5 used. This was physically happening. Unease oozed out from the depths of her mind and quickly spread in her mind, showing on her face. It was just like a shockwave reaching the surroundings only after an object had moved at supersonic speeds. It was like the rumble of thunder arriving only a few seconds after the flash of lightning.

"Misaka!"

Touma leapt forwards, batting away all the weapons that had emerged from the China dress's sleeve. Each and every single one of them shattered like fragile glass, dispersing into fine particles. To protect her now that she was freed, Touma stepped forward to hold back the brown bandaged women and the pale mini-China dress.

"Ahh, ahh. It's no use thinking about it too much. Destroying them all at once like Kamijou Touma did is the best plan."

The mini China dress girl giggled.

She did not seem bothered that her weapons had been destroyed.

"After all, each and every one of my Pao-Pei has a different effect. If I release them all at once like that, you can't exactly sit around analyzing each one, now can you?"

"Pao...?"

"Ah ha ha. Sorry. I guess using my own terminology would leave you confused, wouldn't it? They aren't from any religious or historical texts. Instead, they're the weapons used by the sages in an ancient Chinese novel, but there are plenty of similar things lying around. For example, the sages would have a fake funeral to cut their ties to their earthly life and they would place their own staff in the coffin in their place. My country is filled with tools that have no official origin. There are over one hundred legendary foods that supposedly make you immortal if you eat them. When you have so much stuff, you have to categorize them and manage them all, so I just wanted a convenient name and category."

"Niang-Niang, I don't think that's what they were surprised about."

"Neh? Then what were those shocked looks for?"

To Touma, that puzzled atmosphere felt like a different sort of pressure from any of his previous powerful foes.

"What are you two?"

He stayed in front of Mikoto as he asked, but neither of them bothered getting up as they calmly answered.

"I'm Nephthys and this is Niang-Niang."

"You can think of us as the High Priest's partners, Kamijou-chan."

"So, as I thought. You are Magic gods. And, I am guessing, part of 'True Gremlin' ?" Percival asked, having changed the nature of his shield from a tower shield to a buckler.

"Yes." Niang-Niang giggled. "One point to you, little boy! I feel that you are a descendant of mine. Know any good restaurants?"

"Nope, but I know an excellent chef." Percival nodded towards Touma. "He could cook up some fried rice after all this is over, that is, if he permits it."

"I will think about it~" Niang-Niang frowned when she saw Touma's face. "You don't have to worry, you know. We aren't like that old geezer. We aren't thinking about destroying Academy City right this instant or anything. Didn't the High Priest tell you what the true Gremlin wants?"

"You mean that stuff about having me score the distortions and destiny created when you Magic Gods fight over resources? And in exchange for a guaranteed wish or prayer. You aren't interested in world domination or wiping out the human race. You just want to give me those special privileges for some nonsensical peace of mind!"

"Are you prepared to give us your answer?" Nephthys cut in.

_Would they use the High Priest's strategy and spread destruction until he changed his mind?_

He tensed at that thought, but...

"C'moooon. You don't have to look so horrified. Huh? Nephthys, do you think maybe the High Priest scared him a little too much?"

"Well, he is the type that lets the blood rush to his head and ruins the plan he was working on five seconds before, so it isn't that surprising. He really does like making his own convenient interpretations of impermanence and inevitable decline."

"What are you...talking about?"

"Sorry if we scared you, boy."

Nephthys pressed her index finger against her slender chin without looking remotely troubled.

"But we have no intention of starting any kind of trouble in Academy City...or in this world at all."

"How can you be so certain?"

"Because we have no reason to."

* * *

**AN**

**Now, hope you all enjoyed the longer chapter. I had this feeling that this was a little too short for a good chapter. So, I added some more words, among other things. This is also going to follow the canon for now. The conversation, that is, so be warned. After that...well, use your imagination, I suppose.**

**And, to quote Drak3n, The High Priest Arc begins!(Or rather, it is now halfway done!)**

**Anime is life, and keep safe!**


	14. Talks and Plans

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

**Underlined Bold** \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create.**

* * *

**Chapter 13:****Talks and Plans**

"Because we have no reason to."

Such simple 6 words. But Touma had no way to be sure that they were telling the entire truth. At least, not right now.

Nephthys removed her fingertip from her brown chin and casually reached her hand towards the sun in the blue sky. (There was a sunroof on the modified van, so it could allow a person to shoot backwards, check the weather, or allow natural light in.) "I can't speak for the other Magic God, but I quite like Academy City. Even as one of the lives crawling along the ground, you dream of the stars in the night sky and draw up diagrams for them all. You've even reached the level of building a mass driver and landing an unmanned probe on a comet by matching its one hundred thousand kph relative speed."

"The stars can be plucked from the sky so easily, so why are you so desperate to reach them? It's not even remotely logical, but humans are creatures filled with that sort of passion, aren't they? That movement of your hearts is the one thing I'm honestly jealous of."

Niang-Niang was struggling not to laugh as she listened in. "Neeephthyyys, you're really, really looking down on them."

"Oh, dear. But my experience tells me this leaves them with a more favorable impression of me."

"Well, we are gods. It's true people expect us to crush them underfoot instead of lowering ourselves to their level."

Kamijou, Mikoto and Percival were right in front of them, but neither Nephthys nor Niang-Niang paid them much attention. There was a powerful division between them like with a waiter in the middle of a party.

"I got off topic, didn't I?" Nephthys frowned. "We should really stop doing that, I suppose."

"Why are you even here?" Percival finally managed to cut in to the conversation that they had been excluded out of so naturally.

"Didn't you hear from the High Priest?" Nephthys raised an eyebrow at the trio. "Thanks to 'him', we're weakened at the moment. We had hoped your Imagine Breaker could do something about that, but it didn't work. Not that it really matters. We're not the ones this is a real problem for. I just can't figure out what 'he' was thinking by dragging us into the real world in this incomplete state. You could say we're in a state where we can **destroy the world but lack the strength to recreate it afterwards.**"

"...!?"

"Niang-Niang." Nephthys gave the smaller Magic god a small glare.

"Ah ha ha...Sorry, sorry. You are still traumatized by what Othinus did, right Kamijou-chan~"

"Who wouldn't be traumatized?" The ashen-blonde hared boy voiced out his opinion. "After all, Othinus did recreate the world thousands of times."

"Meh" Niang-Niang shrugged. "For you humans, maybe. But for us?" She gave a grin. "Not so much."

"Hai hai." Percival huffed. "You are all powerful Magic gods. Please forgive this rude individual known as Percival Yurei."

Niang-Niang narrowed her eyes. "...You know, I have been wondering, but you seem to be...different from the rest of the mortals here."

Everyone did not notice Niang-Niang's change of words. All except Nephthys, who narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps we can discuss this a different time." Percival glanced at the wall clock. "We are kinda on a tight schedule here."

"Why not now?" Niang-Niang's tone became subtly darker. Less cheerful. "We have **plenty of time.** Unlike you humans, whose life can be extinguished in a mere moment."

"**Another time.**"

Touma widened his eyes slightly, his body shivering in terror. Beside him, Mikoto clutched his arm. He could feel her shivering body through his bandages and clothes.

Percival's tone had became significantly deeper. It gave the duo chills up their spines.

As if a person was walking on their graves.

"Oho..." Niang-Niang's eyes widened marginally. Not so much that it would change her facial expression, but just enough for **certain individuals** to notice. "...Alright then. I agree with your proposal. When?"

"Here." The presence(Touma now realized it was a combination of bloodlust, killing intent, and aura. Possibly amplified by Percival's own ability, if that was possible) coming from Percival dissipated almost instantaneously, like it had never been there to begin with. "When this is all over, I can call you for a meet up. But, if you have any questions, just call this number on the burner phone earlier. Since it only has one contact programmed into it, I trust it would be easy to manage. Not right now though. Perhaps...a couple of hours? Maybe 7."

"Okay then~" Niang-Niang giggled as she took the phone, her hand extending out from the baggy sleeve of her China dress for the first time. Like the skin on her face, it was pale. Almost unnaturally so. A little fascinated by her skin color, Touma watched as she brought her hand, now holding the small burner phone, back into her baggy sleeve.

"I won't become your Scorer." Touma chose this time to answer their earlier question. Both Magic gods turned to face the teen. "I'm sick of thinking about turning the human race into tropical fish for something as ridiculous as 'peace of mind'. I have no interest in making any wishes or prayers."

"Its fine. That can wait until another time." Nephthys laughed. "The current issue is the High Priest."

"The High Priest?"

"Even you can tell he's on a complete rampage, can't you? But that doesn't represent the overall will of the true Gremlin. We can't have you thinking we're all like that."

"Th-then..."

Hesitantly, Mikoto spoke up from behind Kamijou.

"Why can't you deal with him? You know that weird old man, man, right? Then you go capture him and leave!"

Nephthys and Niang-Niang's response was incredibly simple.

**They acted like Academy City's #3 was not even there.**

"We want you to stop the High Priest, so we'll give you the information you need. But don't expect us to do anything directly."

"Wait..."

Kamijou cut in, but the two Magic gods continued on.

"Well, if you tell us to do it, we will. But only if we receive that prayer from our cute little Kamijou-chan. Of course, that would end up with at least Academy City...no, this entire archipelago at the bottom of the sea. You know why, don't you? A fight between us and the High Priest would be a battle between Magic Gods."

"Wait." Touma said in a firmer tone.

The two Magic Gods were entirely cheerful. They sounded just like someone speaking to a friend in class.

But that was **exactly why** Touma stopped them there.

"I said wait, Nephthys!"

Touma had reached out and grabbed onto the bandages on Nephthys which would have been the collar of a shirt. This finally prompted the two Magic gods to stop.

"Hmm?" Nephthys just gazed at the spiky-haired boy. Realising what he had just done, Touma slowly released his vice-like grip on the bandages, but he did not let his eyes leave the Magic gods.

"If you want me to even **consider** being your Scorer," Touma continued his firm gaze on the brown skinned woman. "then listen to my friends inputs. They know about this, so they should deserve at least a tiny bit of your attention. They do not deserve to be treated like an ant on the side of the road."

Nephthys only raised a single eyebrow at this sudden demand, while Niang-Niang gave a small giggle.

As Touma continued to look at the Magic god, he was thinking. _Is this why Yurei-san told them about Magic? So that they can act properly, and understand what's going on? To prevent them from feeling useless, as I once did?_

A teasing voice cut in from the side. Niang-Niang hid her mouth behind a baggy sleeve and a bewitching smile filled her eyes.

"What will you do if we don't listen? Of course, it doesn't matter to us if you say you don't want any divine advice. If you want to do it all on your own, go right ahead. But can you really manage that? You don't even know the basic structure of the High Priest's mummy body."

Touma gritted his teeth. He knew Niang-Niang was right, as much as he hated it. He had the illusion of having some power in his hand, when in actuality, he had not but just a small silver of it.

...But so what?

If it was just a small silver, if used wisely, it could help him in many ways. This was how he had won his battles against Academy City's #1. This was how he had defeated many overconfident foes in his second home, and how he had felled many a individual outside Academy City.

He glared at her from close range, but Nephthys's expression did not change.

Kamijou Touma felt a strange prickling surround him, as if something invisible were stabbing into his skin.

Still, he did not back down. He had no reason to do so.

"...Fine." The brown goddess sighed."You have always been greedy when it comes to victory, so you tend to use any means available to you. And right now you have someone behind you to protect.** You would never worry about appearances here.** And, if what you say is correct..." She glanced briefly at Percival and Mikoto respectively. "Then their questions might help develop you as our Scorer even further, or even create a group of Scorers to help with our goal."

* * *

The purple-robed High Priest used his golden sword as a staff to walk along the river.

He did not use a people-clearing field to hide himself.

He did not try to conceal the existence of magic.

He held the position of a Magic God, his presence destroyed the many bonds tying one to the world, and yet his living mummy body shattered everyone's common sense simply by breathing. But he gave no thought to any of that. If any problems occurred, he could crush them with his strength and none of the beings living in this world could stop him. His entire body was overflowing with that pride.

And right now?

"Oh ho ho!"

...This all powerful being was playing a game.

More specifically, it was an arcade game where you played with your entire body.

The way it worked was simple. You step into a room, where multiple motion sensors are placed at a corner to ensure every movement was captured. The room itself also made the person inside suspended in midair, giving them a slight sense of weightlessness. But, it also had the special ability to keep the person inside the room in a standing position at all times, so they would not exit the game, only to find themselves upside down. Light projectors projected solid 3-D images around the player, so it would feel as if you are in VR. Esper abilities also had no effect in the game, other than a small boost in your character's powers and abilities, depending on what character and what the player's esper ability was.

As for the game, it was a fighting game, very similar to those at arcades. You use a single 100 yen coin to play. If you win, no need to pay. The next opponent challenging you will do so. If you lose...well...you better have some deep pockets if you end up on a losing streak. And High Priest was having quite a swell time.

"Uh hoi!"

He had gone in at first due to the different images that flashed across the surface of the shop. But, when he found out more on what it was ('A revolutionary way to look and play fighting games', the clerk had said), he had decided to play a game or two before he implemented his plan on lots of mayhem and destruction.

"Ho ho ho. This is as thrilling as being hurt for the first time in centuries!"

Of course, that plan was shredded, burnt up, and buried in a box at the deepest parts of the ocean when he discovered the thrill of fighting in the game, with its realistic effects and abilities. Thankfully, the box was sealed and for the player's privacy, made of a special material so no one, esper with Clairvoyance or not, could peek in on the player. Nor hear them. Otherwise, the old mummy-like Magic god may have been given weird looks at his words, as well as barred from playing due to his winning streak.

Of 300-0.

And that was in the first hour. Two hours had passed, and he was still fighting. His final score?

675-20. The left the number of his wins(Most of them from group free-for-alls.)

* * *

"As you know...or maybe you don't, but the High Priest is a Magic God from Buddhism." Nephthys began with that.

"Specifically, from the unique Japanese variety that went through a number of changes after its origin in India and its passage through China and Korea. Now, Kamijou-chan, are you familiar with self-mummification?"

"?" Touma was confused. _Self-mummification? What is that?_

"Nephthyyys, you're skipping a step in your explanation," Niang-Niang cut in. "In Japanese Buddhism, you can't achieve enlightenment and travel to the Pure Land in a single life, no matter how much you train. It has nothing to do with your social status. By being reborn again and again and going through harsh training each time, you slowwwwly polish your soul and only liberate yourself from your worldly desires in the very, very end. That's when you become a Buddha. Or that's the normal route, anyway. There is a way of becoming a Buddha in the limited few decades of a single life and that is self-mummification."

_Were they saying the High Priest had performed that self-mummification ceremony and become a Magic God?_ Touma listened to the explanations that were taking place, courtesy of tow of High Priest's partners. _But what exactly did that ceremony entail?_

"The process itself is simple. You can tell from his body, right? It's basically the Japanese version of a mummy. And strangely, they don't even remove the blood or organs. They only close themselves in a dark room and dry up. Speaking as the Egyptian version, it makes me worry they would rot from the inside before drying out." Nephthys spoke with a nonchalant tone.

"Huh. Interesting..." Percival muttered softly, looking very interested in the conversation about mummification.

As for Touma, this surprised him. It was true the High Priest did not look normal, but it was still a shock to have it confirmed by someone else.

"Then he was killed in order to artificially create a Magic God!?" He exclaimed, just figuring out that High Priest's death led to him becoming a Magic god.

"Don't be silly. He closed himself in the underground room and chose to starve to death. It wouldn't be 'self'-mummification otherwise." Correction. He was wrong in his chain of thoughts(Not that he can help it. He has no clue on the nature of a Magic god, nor of the rules that governed who became a Magic god)

Niang-Niang's nonchalant comment left Kamijou even more dumbfounded. Nephthys did not seem to want to stick on any one point, so she continued on to the next one.

"That's why he has a connection to dirt. In self-mummification, the priest wanting to rid himself of worldly desires closes himself in an underground room, essentially burying himself alive, and continues forming mudra and chanting sutra to the end. That creates the mummy. What seeped from his corpse as he dried filled the surrounding dirt and created a connection there. All around the world, people think of the heavenly gods being up in the sky and the sinners being below the earth, but not many cultures view dirt itself as unclean. Take Japan's Shinto for example. But Shinto and Buddhism have mixed and contaminated each other, so that influenced the High Priest, too."

The dirt.

The underworld.

A Magic God who could draw out and control the space that had starved him to death.

"So, your thinking that High Priest can look for you through the dirt is spot on, Kamijou Touma." Nephthys gave him a humorless grin.

Touma was a little happy his inference was correct. However, there was still something bugging him. More specifically...

"Why did he...?" He began, only to cut himself off.

"?" Both Magic gods looked at their chosen (potential future) Scorer in interest

"Why did he go that far?"

This had nothing to do with strategizing. It was an honest question. One that Touma did not expect an answer to. But he asked anyway.

Such was his nature.

"Isn't that obvious? The only reason any priest aims to rid himself of his worldly desires is to save the people. In other words, he wanted to save the entire world." Nephthys replied as if it was nothing.

Touma was shocked "Wha-...?" _That's..._

"Ah ha ha! Pretty much all of the Magic Gods are the same, y'know? But the salvation our overwhelming power brought was twisted. Or I guess you could say salvation from an individual is no different from an absolute dictatorship. Then again, the High Priest's story may be one of the worst."

"Didn't you find it odd?" Nephthys asked like this was nothing more than gossip. "There are a few peculiar aspects about the High Priest's outfit: his purple robe, the glittering golden ornaments, the collar rising like flames, and the sword made of pure gold."

"What about it?" Mikoto asked, her earlier anger and hurt having been traded for curiosity long ago.

"He has never once swung that sword, has he?"

Now that it had been pointed out to him, the trio realized it was true. High Priest had used mainly the earth and mud to fight, never once using his golden sword to fight.

"You're right!" Percival exclaimed. "Even when I was right in his face, he chose to swat me away with a fist he made instead."

"They're all burial accessories modeled after the Buddhist deity Acala, but they don't represent his own choices." Nephthys explained. "After he died, a faction that did not want him to become a Buddha sabotaged his attempt. No one adorned with those treasures could have abandoned their desire, so no one would think he could have achieved enlightenment. It was basically a blatant negative campaign against him."

"Kee hee hee." Niang-Niang, cut in, giggling "In other words, he has the body of a Buddha but wasn't given the position of a Buddha, so you could call him a wandering Buddha."

"In polytheistic religions, every god is given a name and a role." Nephthys continued to explain, after sharing a tiny grin with Niang-Niang. "The gears of the giant system known as mythology can start turning as long as they have those two things. But the High Priest has neither. He's a Buddha with no name besides 'High Priest'. He's a dangerous gear that can appear anywhere inside an already full box. And worst of all, he still fully intends to save the people. He concluded that what happened to him was 'the desire of the people', so he believes he can save the world by acting as someone who could not abandon his petty desires and thus became a Buddha without a role."

Hearing it was enough to make Touma feel faint.

He had run across quite a few magicians in the past and they had all had their unique issues.

But High Priest was somehow different.

The other magicians had done what they did because something had ended or because they feared something would end, but the High Priest was much more rotten. He was like a dried and eternally preserved mummy.

Everyone else was working out of fear that their HP would drop to zero, but his alone had already reached negative numbers yet he was still laughing.

"So you can't convince him to stop." Mikoto stated, sweat dripping from her forehead. Uncounciously, she had also stated what Touma had been thinking.

_Nephthys provided that simple conclusion and her tone made it clear that was not uncommon for someone with that kind of past._

"After all, he's rotted so much, but he's perfectly satisfied with where he is 'now'. If the emperor of the Emperor's New Clothes was proud of being naked, then there would be no stopping him with words, right?" Nephthys stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Ah ha ha! Neeephthyyys ! That doesn't sound very convincing coming from someone who's naked except for some bandages!" Niang-Niang laughed.

"You aren't any better since you don't wear any underwear."

As they spoke back and forth, the two Magic Gods slowly stood up from the seat where Touma was resting at first, before all this mayhem arrived.

"Well, despite what I said, if you really don't have enough strength, call our names. **If you give an appropriate sacrifice**, we can restrain the High Priest in a direct confrontation between Magic Gods. That wouldn't be all that interesting a conclusion, but I suppose it would be somewhat entertaining. After all, it would mean you had accepted the value of a Magic God's power."

Nephthys held her slender brown hand out to Touma.

He looked at the hand, various thoughts swirling in his mind.

He could do it now if he wanted to. He could accept their deal, take the easy way out. He would have taken a taste of cheating.

And there would be no turning back.

Even if he had tasted a taste of the cheats known as Magic gods, even if doing so would feel like he was spitting on his hard work in the past, it would save everyone...right?

"...I'll-" "No!"

Mikoto's voice cut in, stopping Touma from speaking further. He found his entire right arm in the embrace of Mikoto's grasp.

"Don't take their offer, Touma." Mikoto's gaze seemed to cut into Touma's heart. It looked so...afraid... "Don't join them. Don't...leave me." She whispered the final part in a barely audible tone, but Touma caught it. Just barely.

_Ah. _Touma realized. _Misaka is insecure about all of this. She's afraid I might end up like Accelerator._

Well, that part was partially true.

Mikoto was afraid. Of him becoming something similar to Accelerator.

Before Accelerator participated in the experiments and killed 10031 of the Sisters, he had not wished to kill them. In fact, in the first experiment, he had purposely tried to leave.

Yet the actions of the first Sister, the words of the various scientists involved, the actions of the jealous low level espers, and his past treatment, caused him to go on a killing spree.

And, a small part of Mikoto's mind thought that if Touma accepted this power right now...He may end up becoming something like the people he hated.

Someone who kills and drags innocent people into his goal, no matter if intentional or not.

Stop and erase groups of people, even if their actions had a pure intention behind them.

Well, these may be unintentional side effects of his wishes, but what could happen, will happen due to his luck.

As for the other part...

Mikoto was slowly realizing that she held feelings for the spiky haired boy. She may deny it all she wants, but that kiss had pushed this issue of hers to the front of her mind. Where her two sides, the tsun- and -dere factions fought.

In the end, a truce was made, with the agreement for both factions to calm themselves down, **and** for their host to confess. Not that Mikoto had any knowledge of this happening in her mind right now.

"...I will not take the deal, Nephthys. Not now." Touma finally responded to Nephthys's offer. "In another life, in another time...maybe I would have. But unfortunately for you, this Kamijou-san has no wish to agree to your wishes."

Nephthys was silent for a moment. Then, she smiled.

"You do not disappoint, Kamijou Touma." Nephthys turned to face Mikoto. "Keep him close, girl. You may never know what might happen to him."

"!"

"I will give you one last piece of divine advice," said the Magic God. "If you intend to defeat the High Priest with brute strength, then you need to carefully work out the process of his destruction. Make no mistake; that is not a simple difference in physical strength."

"What?"

"He is a special being that rose to the level of a Buddha in a single life when that normally takes being reborn into countless lives. He is someone who left the proper path of destiny and skipped a level on his own. He can freely manipulate the intersection of the Six Paths, so it would be best not to assume the cause, the process, and the effect are lined up neatly in order."

Then, Niang-Niang cut in.

"Percival, we will be waiting~" She sang out, giggling at the end of her sentence

They said nothing more.

By the time Kamijou Touma finished blinking his eyes, the Magic Gods were already gone.

* * *

Percival was the first to break the silence.

"Shall we start planning?" He asked, moving to the back of the van. "I'll get Shirai-san up from what I presume to be Misaka-san's 'whips of affection' " He made the movements for quotation marks with his fingers with a smirk. "Informant should be pulling up soon, so be ready. And whatever you do, do not take his food." With that, he closed the curtain, leaving them in silence.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Both parties in the room just gave small glances at each other, both too embarrassed to say anything. They had already separated from each other, and were now sitting at the ends of the sofa like seat.

"Erm..."

Touma was the first to break the silence. Mikoto, a faint blush still on her face, looked at him.

"About earlier..." He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry about that."

"About the k-k-kiss?" Mikoto stuttered on the word kiss. Touma nodded, a small blush appearing on his face.

"Y-you better take responsibility, y-you b-baka." Mikoto blushed, stuttering a little and her voice lowering in tone near the end.

"H-how?!" Touma nearly exploded, the embarrassment and fear nearly causing him to bolt upright.

"Y-you idiot!" Mikoto's eyes widened, tears nearly threatening to spill. "D-do you have to make me say it!"

A few electrical bolts flew from her bangs in her embarrassment, all firing towards Touma. Surprised by the attack, he attempted to disperse all of them, only managing to negate all but one, which struck his leg.

"Gah!" Shocked by the bolt, he fell over, leaning over the brown-haired girl by accident.

"Eep!"

"S-sorry!" Both parties slowly sat back down, their embarrassment at a all time high.

"...you better take responsibility..." Mikoto muttered.

"..how?"

"Do you have to make me say it?" Mikoto's face looked not that different from a cherry now. Her embarrassment level was probably the highest ever in history, but she pushed through it.

"You will have to be my boyfriend."

3,

2,

1,

0.

"Eh?!" Touma nearly shouted out loud, his eyes wide open. _D-did she really just say that?! B-but I want a dorm manager onee-san! Yet..._ His heart was thumping loudly in his ears. _...do I love her? I always thought my misfortune would drive them away. But..._

"You better not say no." Mikoto's glare that followed her statement took Touma aback for a second. "Especially after you made me say it..."

"...Alright." Touma sighed. "I'll be your boyfriend. Such misfortune."

"Huuuh!" Mikoto exclaimed in anger. "Why would me being your g-girlfriend," She stumbled over that part. "be a misfortune!"

"W-well..." He trailed off. "It's just...my misfortune would always drive people away. Any chance of a relationship would be gone. They would be faced with the misfortune I face on a daily basis. My family does not have my luck, since they win lotteries. Plus, my funds are pretty much broke, so any person in a relationship with me would- Mmph!"

* * *

Mikoto frowned when she heard Touma's explanation. _That is too pessimistic. If his misfortune is so bad that it leads to this type of thinking...Then again, part of it also comes from his nature. _Having heard enough, she silenced hi with her hand.

"Well, be thankful that I am not an ordinary girl." She smirked at his expression. "I am a Level 5, so I have lots of funds. And I am a powerful esper, who is living in a place full of metal and electronics. I can protect myself just fine here. You can help protect me from magic I help protect you from the Science side. Besides," She leaned closer. "I fell in l-love with you, s-so I might as well deal with your misfortune."

"Eh?"

* * *

That was the last thing that Touma said before he felt something warm touch his lips. ..._What?_

Blinking, he found himself kissing the brown haired esper once more, this time with the girl initiating it. _This...feels kinda nice..._

"Kah ha ha! Pay up dear friend of mine!"

A sudden shout caused the newly formed couple to separate hastily.

"H-how long have you been standing there?" Mikoto barely managed to speak through her embarrassment, her blush rivaling that of Touma's.

"Oh, not too long." Percival smirked as he leaned against the door leading to the driver seat. "Ever since Touma got zapped."

"S-so the whole thing then!"

"Ah, forget it." Percival's smile started to irritate Touma. It reminded him too much of a certain spy.

* * *

Back in his dorm room, said spy sneezed suddenly.

"Hmm?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu looked up from the dating sim he was playing. "My senses are tingling! Kami-yan got a girlfriend nyah~!" He shouted out, standing up from his seat. "Aogami, do you feel it to?"

Beside him, Aogami Pierce looked at the blonde spy(despite his eyes remaining closed the entire time) "Yeah! My kami-yan disease senses are tingling! Kamijou got a tsundere-rich ojou-sama-middle school girlfriend! Damn yoouu Kamijooooooou!"

"...How are you able to know Kami-yan's girlfriend's attributes?" Motoharu asked, confused.

"Never underestimate me, Tsuchimikado!" Aogami sent a grin towards the spy. "My love of any and all genres have given me a power of detecting Kami-yan's potential girlfriends...which exceed 10,000?! How the hell did Kamijou get that many admirers?!"

_The clones... _Motoharu thought with a twitching face. _...Kami-yan, you are a god amongst men._ "Aogami, what other attributes are among the potential girlfriends of Kami-yan?"

"Hmm..." Aogami placed his fingers to his temples. "...Rich ojou-sama, tsundere, yandere, dandere(1), legal loli, loli, busty onee-san, maid, act girl, kuudere(2), goddess, foregin beauty, nun, sex deviant, little sister, sister, army personal, cat girl, zombie girl, heiress, and cyborg girl!"

"...I think some of them are not possible..."

"Why not?" Aogami countered. "With Academy city's technology, we could very well make a zombie girl and cat girl!"

"No no no," Motoharu waved his hand, making a fanning action. "Zombie girl and cat girl belong in the fantasy genre. Don't mix it up with reality, you pervert."

"Pervert?" Aogami scoffed at Motoharu's words. "I am no pervert! I love any and all girl types, from 2-D to 3-D! Unlike you, who only loves little sister characters! Maika should come with me and see how her onee-chan behaves!"

"Don't bring Maika into this, you bastard!"

"Want to go, Sis-con sergeant!?"

""**ORAYAH!**""

* * *

"Also," Percival drawled out. "You are gonna owe me for this, Kamijou-san."

"Why's that?" He looked at Percival with a wary gaze.

"Have you forgotten who Misaka-san knocked out?" Under his expression, the newly formed couple widened their eyes comically.

_Kuroko! / Shirai-san! _Both of them thought about the twin-tailed girl's reaction to them being a couple.

"Don't worry, I knocked her out again. I'll wake her up when we start to plan. Speaking of," Percival drew his head back into the curtains. "Informant, you gonna come in? Bring your victim in too."

And so, that was how the planning started.

* * *

Timeskip

"Alright, everyone got it?"

There was general mutter of agreement to Percival's question. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Remember, we have to either incapacitate or kill High Priest **together.**" Percival stressed the word 'together'. "If not, the plan would end up being useless."

"I'll get going then." Kuroko spoke out, before she teleported out of the van.

"...Why did Kuroko give Informant such a terrified look?" Mikoto noted the look she had given Informant when he had gotten close to her. Fear had clouded her eyes, and she always backed away unconsciously by 1 single step whenever he moved near her.

"Ah, well Informant has this love of eating spicy food." Percival explained. "So, he always adds capsaicin to his foods. Deserts, sandwiches, even snacks! And this stuff is highly concentrated, so if you ever have a lick of the stuff...your tongue would not just feel like it was on fire. It would feel as if your entire **head** was burning in lava. Plus, from what I heard, Shrai-san was speaking too much, so he stuffed one of his special donuts into her mouth."

"Ah." Mikoto did not know what to say about that. One one hand, Kuroko was her friend. On the other, Kuroko always groped her bust, so she had mixed feelings about this.

"Erm...Yurei-san?" Misaki finally chose to speak. She had been silent most of the duration of the meeting.

"Yeah?"

"Erm, I overheard you say something about 'clone wars'," Mikoto stiffened a little at that, but Misaki ignored it. "and I could not help but wonder, what is it really."

"It is a plan name."

"But, why clone wars?"

"It was a tactic I once made." Percival explained. "It involved using multiple groups to first subdue, then capture or kill, a target. This tactic also had a chance to fail, depending on the target's power level, so as part of the plan, an escape vehicle was to be secured for each team."

"I see...by my deduction ability, I suppose this plan would be called honey pot?"

"Right in one!" Percival snapped his fingers. "Well then..."

"Let the games begin."

* * *

(1) - Usually quiet. But when someone they love come, they come out of their shell.

(2) - Someone who is expressionless on the outside, but is very caring on the inside

**AN**

**Well, this chapter is a little bit of a bore. I think, anyway. Not too sure on you guys, since I know my layout(More or less.)**

**And, to address something someone said. **

**The helicopter torture is a big NO NO. For a few reasons. The main one being that there would be a few casualties, at the very least, with a copter crashing and burning in the middle of the city(Or, in this case, a Anti-skill training facility.)**

**That said, I DO find the torturing of an old man who is sadistic and yandere to be amusing, so you can hope for some sort of torture in the next chapters.**


	15. Game time

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

**Underlined Bold** \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create**

* * *

**Chapter 14:Game time  
**

High Priest sensed Touma.

"Oho?" For the first time in the past few hours, High Priest looked up from his game. He was on a winning streak of 1,000 wins to a hundred. Although, the main problem for him right now was that he was bored. VERY bored.

At first, the game was extremely satisfying. Enough to sate his desires for Touma to become their Scorer. At least, for a bit.

He had felt alive. So full of life. Like a battle junkie fighting a very tough battle. Then again, considering his personality, he could be considered a battle junkie. Anyway, with every win, with every fight, he felt more and more adrenaline following through his veins, the thought that he could lose keeping his interest off of Touma and his goal with every passing fight. But soon, that was it.

The adrenaline stopped flowing.

At first, High Priest thought that it would come back. One fight passed. Then two. Then three. Many more fights passed. Pretty soon, 100 of them had passed. And whether he won or lost, he never got back that high from fighting. That rush he had felt.

If this was in the past, his old self would have been astonished at him, astonished at the fact that he had not abandoned his worldly desires. Astonished, that he had become this sort of person...this monster...

Pain, hurt and such simple emotions like that could do so much change in a person. In their mindset, their personality, and their body. And High Priest was no different, due to being the subject of the jealousness of multiple people, both young priests and influential nobles which hated him. Which turned him into a monster which was not that different from a bipolar, crazed yandere individual.

So, he was rapidly becoming bored with the game, and was about to go off with his initial plan of wrecking everything in sight to attract Touma's attention, when he felt Touma's presence near the edge of Academy city. "Oho, oho oho...Kamijou Touma," High Priest grinned a spine-crawling smile. "I do hope you know what is coming. You should become our Scorer, before all of this goes up in flames!"

* * *

**Flashback**

"Ready?"

"Not really." Touma felt very anxious. He had taken off the nano-armor, replacing it with another piece of equipment Percival had supplied him. Something he called the Daybreaker. _You know, that would have been much better name on a weapon._ It looked more like body armor with some gauntlets attached to it then some cool armor, so he was going to have to make do with it. "It may have been my plan-"

"OUR plan." Mikoto cut in, hand on her hip.

"Our plan," Touma amended. "but that does not mean I am 100 percent certain on its success or such. You know, my luck and all."

"Eh." Percival shrugged. "I can understand that. What I am asking you is if you are ready for this. What I am asking is this: Are you ready for a girlfriend?"

"Wha-" Touma was so shocked, he stumbled and tripped over his own feet. Misaki, who was nearby, blinked in confusion at the over-the-top reaction at the simple question. Although, inside her head, she was struggling to not blush. Kuroko would have attempted to do a drop kick on the misfortunate boy(she still had no clue on the newly created relationship), had Informant not stuffed a specific doughnut into her mouth.

Screaming in pain, albeit muffled, Kuroko instantly teleported herself away. Touma could make a guess as to where she was, despite not knowing the pig-tailed teleporter well. All the while, Percival ignored this, instead settling to look at Touma. "Well?" He prompted. "You ready to have a love life?"

"...Let's just not answer that question." Touma sighed, averting his gaze from Percival's. "Besides, what about you? Are you ready for this?"

"Meh." Percival scoffed. "Am I ready? Let me quote something I have always loved to say." He gave a Touma a toothy grin as tapped onto his shield twice. "Who's ever ready?"

"I have been wondering..." Misaki chose that time to cut in. "Yurei-san, what are you doing?"

"What, this?" At that, Percival began to-

"Erm, no." Misaki averted her eyes. "Not...that storage ability of yours. That is...rather disgusting, what you just pulled out.."

"I know. " Percival had a disgusted expression on his face as he put away the dripping carcass he had taken out from the green jewel. "This was just to screw with you guys...but now I'm regretting it." Wiping his hands on his pants legs, he indicated to his shield. "I assume you mean me tapping my shield and stuff."

"Indeed."

"Well...it's a focus of sorts. Like how you guys need to concentrate to use your abilities." Percival explained, taking out various things from his shield. "But that is a conversation for another time." Percival tossed one of the items to Touma. He barely caught it, having been caught unawares by the sudden toss. But when he opened his hands to see what it was-

"Put those in your ears." Percival fitted the ball-like thing into his right ear. "It acts not only as a communicator, it also acts as a GPS locator. This would help to locate anyone anyway within a certain range that has one of these nifty things. Word of advice: Put them in the ear which has better hearing. It also has the added benefit of increasing your auditory capabilities by quite a bit. Three times, to be exact."

"Would we get impaired if there is a loud noise?" Kuroko asked as she placed her own communicator into her ear, having just got back from wherever she was.

"No." Percival fitted some other things onto his body. Multiple grenades, a few knives, and a single pistol. "The way the amplifier works is to make it feel as if you do not have anything blocking your ear. If you use it often enough, you would be able to detect footsteps within 10 metres from you, behind several walls. So, if there is a loud noise, like say, an explosion, it would automatically act as a soundproof barrier, protecting your ear with better hearing." Patting himself down, Percival ensured he had all his items ready, before he stepped off the platform Kanzaki had made with multiple wires and scaffolding. "If you want to talk, you can either tap onto it one to turn the mic on, and tap it again for the mic to turn off. Or, you could snap your fingers."

"That's it?" Mikoto looked skeptical. "Just, snap your fingers, and it turns the mic on and off?"

"Yep." Percival stretched his body. "By the way, the comms airways would be always on, so no unnecessary talking."

"Everyone ready?" Seeing their nods, Percival smiled. "What are we waiting for? Let's all become God killers."

* * *

**Present time**

"Oho ho ho..." High Priest finally arrived at where he had last sensed Touma, creating a crater when he landed. When the dust finally settled, he observed his surroundings. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. At least, not to the untrained eye. "I can sense you, Kamijou Touma. Best you come out now."

Silence met High Priest's words.

"Ho ho...I expected you to come out...To think you would stay hidden instead..." High Priest shook his head. "Perhaps you do not realize what I have in my grasp. I can just leave right now and cause a few ants to have their sparks of life snuffed out. Whatever you do, will not be able to stop me. Unless, you become our Scorer."

"Really?" As he spoke, Touma stepped out from behind one of the pillars. It was located in one of the blind spots that would hide a person from view. Unless they stood in a specific spot. "You will stop this, as long as I become your Scorer?"

"New toys, Kamijou Touma?" High Priest was facing Touma when he stepped out, so he saw his new appearance.

Covering Touma's body was a simple jacket. But, there were other things attached to it.

His sleeves had the appearance of metal arm protectors(Similar ti Danmachi). Attached to his cuffs were fingerless gloves. Touma was wearing the one on his left hand. Touma did not want to wear it at first, but when Percival gave it to him(read as forced), he did it to humor him. _This just looks like a jacket, but Yurei-san said that he should use it if Othinus ever tags along for a fight. There is a special pocket that would allow her to hitch a ride, unseen by others, yet is able to see the outside. That would be good if I want to surprise any magicians, if Index is not with me._

"Not mine." Touma leveled a hard look at High Priest as he raised his fist, sparing a glance at his new outfit as he shifted into a battle-ready stance. "Yurei-san gave them to me."

"Ku ku ku." High Priest gave a creepy laugh. "No matter. Since you refuse, let me-"

"My answer will always be no, High Priest. No matter how many times you ask me." Touma cut off High Priest mid-sentence. Partially because he was tired of hearing him repeat that sentence again and again.

"Haaaaaa" High Priest heaved a large sigh. "Is that so..." The mummified man leaned on his golden oriental sword like a cane. "You know, your choices always lie in front of you and the infinite possibilities of the future are determined by the choices you will make. Those possibilities include tragedy and comedy, fortune and misfortune, peace and war, and everything else, so you can walk down a path where everyone survives as long as you make the right choices."

The thick asphalt of the runway split apart.

A giant arm rose on either side of the High Priest like towers. As the mud arm wriggled like a living creature, the mummy gave his disinterested conclusion.

"You should have figured it out by now. I have a very deep connection to the earth...I have controlled mud to produce a variety of phenomena. But the finite is still finite and I have not altered the conservation of mass...What do you think happens underground when this much of the dirt is pulled out?"

"It collapses." Touma's response caused High Priest to tilt his head. "I have an idea of what you are going for. You wish to drive me to despair, to break me so utterly, that I either die, or I take up your offer of being the Scorer of Gremlin."

"...Yes...that is my plan. If all else fails, we would just look for another candidate." High Priest had no change in his expression as he talked. "By far, you are the best candidate to be our Scorer. Of course, if we have no choice..."

"We will just find another one."

A second earthen arm practically exploded into existence, causing the ground underneath them to collapse under its own weight.

"Hmm...Hmmmm!?"

High Priest gave a shocked hum as he found the person he expected to fall to the bottom, did not. In fact, he remained where he stood, or rather, floated, even as the ground underneath his feet collapsed. As for the Magic god himself, he too remained in midair, albeit closer to the bottom of the hall he had made.

After the initial shock wore off, however, his thoughts became clearer. He doubted someone fundamentally abandoned by luck would experience such great fortune now of all times. Also, the boy himself would never work from a plan that relied on coincidences or miracles. He would have been acting based on the assumption that nothing like that would happen.

So...

"That did not happen naturally. I do not see the girls or boy who were with you... Did you get their help? In that case, were you planning to let me fall down here from the beginning?"

"Not exactly." Percival popped up from beside the floating Magic god. "See, you have no information on me, right? After all, I can be considered a wildcard. If Kamijou-san is your joker...perhaps I can be considered the extra card. The one which is not played, but comes with the entire deck. And as such, I will make use of this lack of information to obtain my objective."

"Ho ho." High Priest strained to look at Percival. It was hard for a regular person. But not so much for the mummified old man. "And, pray tell, what is this plan of yours?"

"No need to tell you. I'm no third-rate villain who explains his entire plan to his enemy." Percival let a smile show on his face. "Buuuut...you do deserve this." A familiar green light enveloped Percival. "_**Munio057: Copy. Target:Magic from past minute...Select earth attribute only.**_"

The green glow briefly extended to his shield, before it concentrated itself into his left hand, and faded out of sight. "Thanks! Now, Kanzaki-san!"

"Nanasen!" High Priest briefly felt a tightening around his body, before he felt the wind rush past his face and body.

He was launched into the sky.

Normally, Kanzaki's 'Nanasen' would be unable to launch a person into the sky. It could cut, it could defend, it can restrain, and it can hold the weight of a person. All of that was possible with 'Nanasen'. However, she has had no practice using it to launch a person, at least, not from the angle she was in. The best she would be able to do is make him fly 20 metres into the air. Not the few kilometres, like just now.

This was helped by the most powerful electromaster in Academy City. Misaka Mikoto.

She first coated all the wires Kanzaki had with iron sand, or used wires she could control. Then, she waited, hidden, until High Priest was in place.

Using the same calculations(with some slight modifications, since the ammunition was multiple wires, each the size of a coin), she fired High Priest into the air with her technique, the Railgun, and used her powers to repel the wires as strongly and quickly as possible, at the same time Kaori pulled upwards with all she had.

The effect was what they had hoped.

The force of Kanzaki launching High Priest, as well as Mikoto's multiple target Railgun attack, launched the immobile High Priest into the air, like a bottle rocket taking flight from the ground.

* * *

_Wow..._ Mikoto marveled the sight of the old man flying skywards, his robes fluttering like a flag in the wind as the wind rushed past them.

"That was a great launch, Misaka-san." Percival praised Mikoto. "Was it too much of a difficulty for you?"

"Not really." Mikoto shrugged as she proceeded with the next stage of the plan. "I just made sure to make a big enough target for me to punch it, even if all of them were around the size of a coin I usually use."

"How much power was behind that?"

"Around the same I usually use to fire two railguns." Mikoto squinted as she looked at High Priests tiny form in the sky. "I have no idea if his body would be able to withstand that attack, so I limited myself. Don't want him to splatter all over the place."

"I...actually think he might be fine, even if you launch him with the power needed to fire a railgun the size of a shipping container." Percival's statement caused Mikoto to blink in shock as she imagined the elderly man still holding up as she delivered the power need to fire off such an attack.

"That's...kind of terrifying." She admitted.

"Well, start the third phase of the plan." Percival's hand made some odd movements, before a clump of metal began to form. "You will need to keep our ball in the air."

"I still love and hate that part of the plan." Mikoto grumbled. "Why do I have to ping-pong ball him up and down? It's a waste of my abilities."

"And you shocking delinquents and using martial arts to get yourself free drinks isn't?" Mikoto had the decency to blush faintly at that jab. "Just go. Remember, if you are still hesitant to do this, maybe you should imagine High Priest as a-"

"Alright, alright I get it." Mikoto used her abilities to bring her up to Touma's current location. "Just keep quiet. You are like a broken player."

As she propelled herself skywards(though, not as high as High Priest), she was still a little worried about Percival. Because that was one of the more dangerous phases of the plan.

...

* * *

**Flashback, planning in the van. 20 minutes ago.**

"So, after we get High Priest here," Touma indicated to the marked location. "We would have to stop him from creating any earthen arms or constructs."

"And how do you propose we do that, my Prince?" Misaki lounged on the large sofa like seat, her handbag clutched next to her. "And, for that matter, how will this work, exactly?"

"Most magicians use some medium or symbolism to bring their creations or magic to life." Kaori interjected. "Stiyl uses rune cards to amplify his magic to make Innocentius, the with-hunting demon made of flames. Levinia Birdway uses Tarot cards to produce effects. For example, if she uses the Hanged Man tarot card, she would be able to make said card take the damage intended for her. Be it an explosion, a bullet or a magic spell. If we put High Priest in such a position he is unable to draw power from his symbolism, which is the earth, we can hold him off for a while."

"...That still does not answer my query though..." Misaki pouted.

"The symbolism behind each magic uses is like a supporter." Touma decided to explain it. Although he was not quite sure if what he was saying was right. "That supporter helps to make the creation of magic come alive. Like, for example the tarot cards Kanzaki-san stated earlier. From what I heard, Birdway purposely misinterpreted the meaning of one of the cards to help defend herself against any attack. It was only valid for one use, but it is very helpful if you want to escape a death blow. In this case, we will try to keep High Priest away from his source of power, which would be the earth, by putting him high above the ground."

"And, how will we do that? We do not have anything with that sort of propulsion ability on us...unless you coat that old man with barrels of iron sand and allow Misaka-san to fire him off into space." Misaki giggled at her suggestion, only for her eyes to widen when she saw Percival's face. "...You aren't serious?"

Percival smirked. "I have some idea...Since we need some way to keep him occupied...Perhaps Misaka-san could help us do so."

"M-me?!" Mikoto spluttered. "H-how am I supposed to keep him occupied? You said that a railgun would not work!"

"It will not kill him, no." Percival muttered as he tapped his shield again, apparently looking at some sort of screen on the shield. "Will it hinder him? Well, that is something I am not too sure about. Magic gods are very hard to kill. And even then, even if, **IF**, you managed to obtain a way to kill a Magic god, it is a completely different ball game to actually using said method to kill him. So, the other option is to blast him out of the planet. Right Kamijou-san?"

"...Yeah. That's right." Touma agreed, albeit hesitantly, when he saw the gazes directed at him. Touma was nervous, as this was something that was out of character for him. Usually, he would be fighting the enemy head on, regardless of the injuries to his body. He would be able to reduce the possible casualties to the bare minimum, at worst a few dozen, at best none.

However, this time, the enemy he was facing **could not be defeated by normal means.** They had tried bullets, gas to knock him out, and Touma's hand(Which was later confirmed to be ineffective via two Magic goddesses.). This left two options. One, he surrender to his demand, which is to be their Scorer. The other, more dangerous one, is to incapacitate the Magic god. They could use the 'Turn into a fairy' spell, like Ollerus had once did with Othinus. But, none of the people currently here could use such a spell. Nor was he sure it would even work on High Priest. That left the other option.

Instead of killing High Priest, they send him far away. So far, he could not touch any of them.

Touma explained his reasoning to them. "High Priest is a Magic god. They have the ability to change reality on a whim, if they wanted to. This is common knowledge for the magicians in the Magic side. There is a way, however, for one to defeat a Magic god. Or rather, kill one. The 'Turn to Fairy' spell. This was developed to be used against Othinus. Unfortunately-"

"None of us know how to use this spell." Kaori sighed. "So, we will have to avoid fighting him entirely."

Touma continued his explanation. "If we can't defeat him, we will have to avoid encountering him. Which then begs the question: How will we do so?"

"That answer is easy. We take away his ties to his ability, which in this case, is the earth. So, if we force him to not touch the ground, we should be able to prevent him from attacking us at all."

"But, that is only in theory" Mikoto frowned. "What happens in actuality, and what happens in theory, can be as different as polar opposites of a magnet."

"Exactly. So, what is the most plausible way to remove his ties to his source of power?"

Everyone thought abut it for a few seconds, not too sure on where Touma was going with this. And then, Misaki recalled her earlier joke. "...removing him from the planet."

"Yes, Shokuhou-san." Touma nodded. "The best way would be to get him off our planet. If he has ties to the earth, then the best bet would be to launch him into space, where there it would take many years to come back, even if he did mange to do so. And, by the time he does come back, he would have to find the next Scorer, which will take a longer period of time for him."

"But...I don't have the power to launch a person like him into space." Mikoto frowned. "My range for a railgun depends on the mass of the object I am using. I may be able to produce the mass needed to launch High Priest into space, but keeping him immobile enough so that he reaches out of the atmosphere of the planet is another thing. I also have to factor how much stamina and time I will need to produce such calculations to actually get him to even one-hundredth of the height we are looking for."

"Leave that part to me."

Percival's statement caused a few eyebrows to be raised. Especially Touma's.

"Don't you have that restriction?" Touma asked Percival. "You should not be able to make a way to launch High Priest into space. At least, not for the next, 30 minutes?"

"45 minutes." Percival corrected Touma. "And I have a hunch on how to overcome that fact. Misaka-san." Percival directed his attention to Mikoto. "Could you use your ability continuously for 15 seconds?"

"Why?"

""To try out a theory I have. If not, I will have to resort to other means."

"Your answer is not really comforting..." Mikoto muttered. Then, louder. "Okay. Let me go outside first. Then, I will start."

Stepping out of the van, Mikoto, Percival, Kanzaki, Informant and Kuroko gathered in a loose circle. Touma(For obvious reasons) and Misaki chose to stay inside the van. "Okay..." Mikoto looked around nervously to make sure there was no transformers or electrical sensitive electrical equipment was around, before she took a breath. "Starting...now."

***Bzzt***

The familiar sight and sound of electricity crackling was heard.

"_**Munio057: Copy. Target, esper in line of sight.**_" Percival intoned, left hand raised. "_**Select electric attribute only.**_"

A green glow enveloped Percival's body, before it concentrated itself into his shield and faded from sight.

"Oookay..." Kuroko gave her two cents in a confused tone. "That was a nice light show, but what was the purpose of this, Yurei-san?"

"This." At that, sparks started to emit from Percival's still outstretched palm.

"This is like from then..." Mikoto stated, her eyes open wide. "I forgot that you said that you had the ability to copy the abilities of others."

"That is not all. If I am right..." Percival's eyes narrowed as he concentrated. then-

***Kiririri***

"Wha-" Everyone backed away from the sudden surge of electricity. "What...is this?" Mikoto asked, half in awe, and half in shock. "I am pretty sure I can't do this."

"With the way your esper ability developed, no." Percival confirmed. "You could do something like what I am doing right now if you try to create a melee version of it. I am sure that you have seen it before, Kamijou-san."

"...Thor's Arc Fusion Blades." Touma said after a few seconds of thought. He could see the similarities.

Percival held a crackling mass of pure electricity in his hand. What's more, it was in the shape of a weapon. A very familiar one, especially since there was one holding it with them. "I call this my elemental katana." Percival swung it a few times. "Normally, this outside of my restrictions. But, if I copy someone's abilities, I will be able to bypass these restrictions, as I had just showed."

"So, how will this help us?" Kuroko asked, slowly approaching the crackling weapon. She had teleported a fair distance away when the sudden surge had occurred. She was very jumpy when Informant was around. _Not that anyone could blame her. She was forced to eat spicy foods meant to be sweet, twice._

"Percival can control earth." Informant spoke up. "And, by extension, metal. And, he also can produce any type of earth or metal, given time and power."

"So, I will build a rocket." Percival took over the explanation. "It won't be a proper one, and it will not be able to bring High Priest all the way without exploding, but if I use the knowledge both me and Informant have, we should be able to produce a rocket that can drag that old man's ass all the way to space."

"That is great and all, but what about fuel?" Kuroko questioned.

"That's very easy." Percival pointed to the sky "Rare metals, water, and oxygen."

...

**Present time**

_Geez, this is harder than I thought. _Percival mentally complained to himself as he created the rare metal he needed as fast as possible without causing it to blow up in his face.

Right now, he was working on the fuel source, which would be a combination of Francium, water, and wax. Francium was the most reactive metal that he knew existed, so he was using that. He had Mikoto and Misaki help with the calculations, since they were both Level 5's and got the exact amount he needed. Well, he could always make extra, but time was of the essence.

Anyway, right now, he had to be very careful. He could create the Francium no problem, even if it had to be in an enclosed box, with his entire body outside of said box to prevent the metal from reacting with the moisture in the atmosphere prematurely, pretty easily. The problem was that he not lose focus and accidentally create even a small bit of the precious rare metal outside the box, which was much harder than he had imagined, seeing as his creation and manipulation of the elements required his imagination and focus. More focus when he could not see what he was doing.

After he was done, he would put more focus into the creation of the mini-rocket that would be used to push High Priest into space. That was the other reason why he was being extra careful.

He was making the rocket(Well, part of it. The other parts of the rocket could be cannibalised from the various metal parts that made up the destroyed robots that they had managed to salvage from the last battle.), as well as he fuel source, simultaneously. A human is unable to multi-task efficiently. Only switch gears, focusing only on one thing at a time. So, he had to strain his mind even further to ensure he did not mess up both of them at the same time.

..

..

Meanwhile, Mikoto's group was working up quite a sweat. She was running back and forth, getting Kuroko to teleport her and Kaori into the air, then getting Kaori to launch her even further to maximize the distance between her and the ground, before launching her railgun at the falling High Priest to blast him back into the air again.

This was the third phase of the entire plan. The occupation of the Magic god.

The first phase was the luring and preparation time of High Priest. That phase was also used to help Misaki link up Kaori and Mikoto's actions to maximise the distance High Priest was to gain when he was to be thrown sky high. That was nearly impossible at first, seeing as Misaki was unable to use any type of mental abilities, helpful or otherwise, on the electromaster. But thanks to the comms Percival gave them, Misaki got the idea to use her abilities in a rather unorthodox way. By using her powers to link her own sight with Kaori's, this would allow the Saint to see what Misaki was seeing.(Which was Mikoto, High Priest, Percival and Touma.), and allow her to time her actions accordingly.

The second phase was, of course, the throwing of High Priest into the stratosphere. Despite it being simple in nature, it was actually the most crucial. Because, if High Priest reached the ground before everything was done, their entire plan would be thrown to the winds, and the fate that awaits all of them would be death.

Now, they were doing the third phase. This phase came in two parts being acted out simultaneously. The creation of the projectile needed to launch High Priest into space, and the keeping of said Magic god occupied long enough for the rocket to be finished. This phase would have to be completed in 10 minutes, tops.

Percival could create the fuel source in under 5 minutes. That part was the hard part. The easy part was the assembly of the rocket, which would be sped up with the dual element control he had(Electrical from Mikoto, Earth and Metal from High Priest). The more taxing part of this phase, however, was on the two espers. Mainly, Kuroko.

Kuroko could teleport multiple times, sure. But, that did not mean she is able to teleport indefinitely. Her mind and stamina would be severely taxed due to this venture, as she would have to teleport not only herself, but her 'Onee-sama' and the ammunition Mikoto would be using(Which was actually broken pieces of robots and drones.) with her to get to the optimal location to hit High Priest(This was helped by Kazkiri with her simulations, back in the Judgement office.). Then, afterwards, she would have to teleport into the air with Mikoto and a part of the ammunition, for Mikoto to fire at the falling Magic god, before she teleported back to the ground with Mikoto, and repeat this process a few times.

And, it was estimated that Kuroko would have to do this process around 20 times, as High Priest would have used his connection to the earth to most probably pull him to the ground faster, like a metal object being attracted to a magnet.

Kaori was on standby, acting as their bodyguard and helper. With her Saint speed, she would be able to catch up to Kuroko's teleportation, with only a few seconds in delay for every time they stopped. She was also carrying the bulk of the ammunition Mikoto was using, so she was not acting as an extra. Not. at. all.

* * *

_...I feel vexed that I am only able to contribute this much to Kamijou-san's plan._ Kaori frowned, feeling that her debt towards the spiky-haired boy had not lessened in the slightest. Every time she did something that would help Touma, he would then do something that would make her feel even more in his debt.

Exhibit A: Index's yearly memory wipe. Touma managed to release her from the Church's grasp, at the cost of all of his memories.

Exhibit B: Angel Fall incident. What was meant to be something that she should have been able to do(protecting Touma's dad), ended up requiring the help of Kamijou Touma's right hand once more to finish it off.

Exhibit C: World War 3. Kamijou Touma should have been resting back in Academy city. However, he had been beaten within an inch of his life, and had to fight against Fiamma of the Right at the end. He won, thereby putting an end to WW3. Though, at the cost of him being thrown into the icy waters of Russia, and later picked up by the cabal, the Dawn-Colored Sunlight.

There were a few more exhibits that could be shown, but this last one was the clincher.

Exhibit U(Unknown number): Saving the **entire** WORLD. In exchange for him becoming the target of the entire world by protecting the one behind it all later on, he managed to save the entire world, and they did not know it. Well, most of the world anyway. A select few souls knew, and one of them now happened to be one Kanzaki Kaori.

She, of course, did not find out about this by chance. She had this feeling in her stomach that the world had been destroyed and remade multiple times. Countless actually, but she did not know that. All she knew was the world had been destroyed, and then for some reason, remade back to its original state(Or, as close to the original it could be.). To try and help Kamijou Touma, she held back some of the forces of the entire world as long as possible. But, that being said, she felt that was nowhere NEAR enough to even pay Touma back **one quarter** of what he had done for her.

One quarter.

That number, that...figure...was one of the reasons she felt so many things about the spiky misfortunate boy.

Anger, sadness, embarrassment, just to name a few. These feelings, along with the feeling of being indebted to him(and a few others, which shall not be named in the name of her teenage mind), were all thrown into the huge pot known as life, and was stirred and mixed so thoroughly, she did not even know WHAT she should do to pay him back.

So, when word was told that there was a Magic god after Kamijou Touma, she acted as quickly as possible.

Going to the Archbishop for permission to act on this intel, flying to Academy city as fast as possible in one of the supersonic jets, and then bypassing the security that surrounded Academy city, all to reach this boy she did not know how to feel about.

Anger...pride...pain...sorrow...respect...

...maybe love...

These were all, and yet, none, of the feelings she wanted to convey to the individual known as Kamijou Touma.

She was one of** the** 20 Saints in the **entire world,** and yet she keeps becoming indebted to this boy more and more every time she sees him.

She, who was said to have luck and fortune, was being indebted to the one who had an aura of misfortune. That was a first to the Japanese Saint, and it surprised and irked her at first. But now...

_To repay this debt...what should I do?_

* * *

High Priest was getting turned into a punching bag. And he was not amused.

Actually, that was a lie. He was being amused by these turn of events. Just a little.

_I had expected Kamijou Touma to take up my deal by now..._ High Priest thought this as he was yet again railgunned(Is that even a word?) into the air. _But for him to come up with this sort of thing... _High Priest chuckled as he free-fell back towards the ground. _Such a futile effort...and such a bore._

_Kamijou Touma has never fought logically, at least, not to this extent. He does things on the fly, so his opponent is unable to predict his moves too much. But his ideals also make him predictable to an extent, so his enemies can trap him. I planned to do the same, but it seems logical planning has prevented me from doing so._

High Priest frowned. A new thought entered his mind_...This is becoming boring._

And with that thought in mind, he acted.

* * *

Kuroko was the first one to notice it.

"Onee-sama...what...is that?"

"Hmm?" Mikoto looked in the direction that Kuroko was currently facing. As they were in midair, they had a great view off their entire surroundings, very similar to a vantage point that snipers would use. And, as such, they were the first ones to notice what was happening.

A large cloud was gathering. Or, at least, that was what it seemed to be. Then, the two espers realized what it was. First, Mikoto, then, Kuroko.

"...Is this the extent of magic?" Kuroko asked Mikoto with wide eyes, taking a few seconds to observe the huge wave of dirt and dust approach their location. At the speed it was coming, they would be hit in around a minute. If they got to Touma, they would be safe. Theoretically. Mikoto knew that there was a limit to how much Touma could negate at once.

"...Maybe Kuroko. Maybe." Mikoto used her powers to allow them to gently float to the ground. Once they did, they informed Kaori of this new development.

"...We should have expected this." Kaori frowned, dropping the ammunition as she did so. "High Priest has a deep connection to the earth. We should have realized he would have been able to gather enough dirt from the explosions and destruction he had dealt earlier."

"I'm telling Yurei-san." Mikoto was about to tap onto her communication ball, but a blur of green, black and blue dropped down from beside her.

"No need." Percival panted heavily with exhaustion as he tried to catch his breath. "I could feel the large gathering of earth with my powers. Honestly, that old man sure loves to make things dramatic or over-the top. He could use smaller arms the size of cars, but nooooo, instead he makes ones the size of shipping containers." He took a deep breath before he released it, then spoke in a calmer tone. "Then again, this would help us as it would be hard for him to make a preemptive strike."

"So, is the rocket ready?" Mikoto asked worriedly. "Maybe if we shoot him into space, that wave of earth would stop its destruction."

"...Unfortunately, no it isn't." Percival brought up a cylindrical container about the size of fire extinguisher. "I managed to make the fuel, but the rocket is not complete. So, unless we stick this onto his body, and surround this entire thing with a mixture of titanium, steel and tungsten, and make it so that he flies up to space without much trouble, then we essentially have a mini-nuke, only without the radioactive fall-out."

"...What should we do..." Mikoto murmured under her breath as she racked her brain for some idea of getting out of the predicament they were in. _Or rather, the question is, what CAN we do? Touma's hand has a limit to how much it can negate, so that wave would only have a small portion of it negated at best. My railgun would only blow a small hole in it. If I use anything metal larger than the diameter of my fist, it would definitely reach the populated areas! Kanzaki-san's magic spells might work, or her nanasen, but we don't know how effective it will be. Shokuhou is essentially useless here..._ her thoughts went to the large-breasted, starry-eyed girl. _And Kuroko is not able to teleport all of the earth wave in time, even with Kanzaki-san's speed helping her reach her locations faster... What do we do!? We have to stop High Priest, a__nd we have to find a way to stop it before it comes into this area! I'm sensing so much equipment around here... _Mikoto bit her lip. _What do we do..._

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Percival's previous location.(Or close to it)

"Shit shit shit shit shiiiiittt!"

Touma was running for his life. And that was no joke. After all, a hug wall of earth was making its way towards him!

"Why?! Why does these things all happen to me?!" Touma shouted out into the sky. "Such Misfoooooortune!"

Informant, having noticed the wall's formation, grabbed onto Misaki in a bridal-style carry, and rushed forwards, away from the wall and towards Percival's destination. As for Touma, he had noticed it only when it was too late.

"Gah!" Touma stumbled over a piece of rubble. "Such misfortune!" He continued to run.

_At the speed we are both going, that wave is going to reach me first! _Touma observed that the distance between the two of them was becoming smaller. He also recognized that he was at a disadvantage, seeing as the wave would swallow up any and all obstacles in its path like a ravenous monster, and in turn making it a part of it.

Whereas Touma had to constantly weave and move around obstacles in his path, causing his speed to fluctuate constantly. But, it was thanks to this weaving that he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

"Is that- "

* * *

**"Guys!"** Touma's voice burst into their comms. **"I have something that Yurei-san can use!"**

"What is it?" Percival responded, his eyes frantically scanning the inside of his shield, hoping that he would have something that could stop the upcoming wave.

**"I found a rocket!"** Touma's words made Percival pause in his actions. **"Its more of a missile, since it is part of an Six-Wings, but could Yurei-san use it?"**

"Maybe." Percial took out a scanner from his pocket. "...I can see you. You're not too far from Kuroko's position. Kuroko, can you-"

**"Hai hai. You wish me to pickup the ape?"** Kuroko's tired voice made itself known over the airways.

"Not exactly. I just want you to get part of the Six-wings. More specifically, its rocket engines." Percival began to make some adjustments to the canister full of Francium. "If you could bring both of them, that would be great. At least get one. Kanzaki-san will get Touma, since she is able to move at high speeds while having his right hand in contact with her body."

**"Roger."** Kuroko's voice fizzled out, signalling that she had cut off her microphone function.

"What are you going to do, Yurei-san?" Misaki peered over Percival's shoulders. After Kuroko had left to keep an eye out on the wave(Seeing as she could get to any location quickly with her esper ability), Miskai was brought in by Informant. (Said person was messing about with one of the destroyed drones.). Mikoto was standing above their location, using whatever large objects she could find to try and launch at High Priest like a railgun. From her sonar-like improvisation, she could detect that the heat given off from each railgun she fired off was keeping High Priest in the air, but it was not stopping whatever he was doing.

"I'm modifying my fuel tank so that it can be used in short bursts." The cylinder began to slowly, but surely, change it shape into a more box like one. "Right now, its made so that once the reaction starts, the entire fuel stock would be depleted in an instant. So, I am separating the entire fuel into 20 different parts, and a further 20 sections will be added and exposed to allow me to fill it with water. This would allow me to maximize the amount of energy that is going to be released in that split second, as compared to it being exposed to the atmosphere."

"But, will your designing ability allow for your complicated design to work effectively?" Misaki titled her head in confusion. Despite what she had just said, she was a Level 5, so she keep up with the explanations that Percival was giving. What she was not too sure about was Percival's accuracy and control with his ability. If he made the slightest mistake, all of them would die.

With that being said, there was also the question of how the 20 different sections will release its load at different times, but Misaki was waiting for his answer to the first question.

"By using a principle similar to firearms." As Miskai watched, she saw the long box break off into 20 separate parts. "If I think of each separate compartment as a single 'bullet', and as the engine that Shirai-san is bringing as the 'gun', I will be able to modify the entire thing to fire off, or give off, the reaction at set intervals." Finally, Percival steeped away from the fuel. Now, it all resembled the shape of a one litre water bottle, but its metallic shine gave it the impression of being a thermos flask. "So, I will also have to modify the engine that Shirai-san is bringing to a certain degree."

"Here it is." Speaking of the devil, Kuroko appeared, dumping the large engine onto the floor as well. "I might have damage the engine a little, since I used some metal sheets to separate the engine from the body."

"It's fine." Percival knelt down next to the engine. "I just needed the body, as well as most of its internal components. The rest, I can substitute with the parts I have."

As they watched, the engine began to change shape. Its box like form, and exposed wires, all seemed to melt into a blob of metal roughly the shape of the rocket engine, before it made definite shapes and solidified.

The entire thing was rude, nothing like one might find to have been built by other countries. Its body was slightly warped, and the thruster part was slightly deformed. But, its shape was undeniably that of a rocket.

"Haahhh..."

"?"

Percival suddenly sighed, causing the people inside to look at him with confused looks. Just then, a blur came in.

"Yurei-san, is the missile ready?" Touma was set down onto the ground. He had been carried bridal-style(Much to his embarrassment.) Despite his many protests, Kaori had still persisted in carrying bridal-style, instead of carrying him like a sack of rice, or allowing him to piggy-back ride her. The first option, she said he might slip. The second one she refused as well, saying the speed she would be moving at would most likely break his back.

"It's ready." Percival responded. "But there is a problem."

"...What is it?" Touma did not have any change in his expression, his tone full of resignation. "Do we have not enough fuel? Is the rocket not working right? Or is High Priest coming down now?"

Normally, when a person is asked 'Is there a problem with *****' and they are responded with 'Yes.', the person who asked the question would have some facial feature change, or a change in tone to one of worry, concern or exasperation(Pranks at the workplace, ya know? Stress relief, stress relief )

So, Touma's reaction would have been judged as weird. At least, to the average onlooker.

Touma is a person constantly plagued by misfortune. This was a fact. And, as such, he would always half expect things to go south, or go wrong, for him at every waking moment for him, so it was no wonder his voice would be filled with resignation.

"The rocket is finished, and we have enough fuel." Percival indicated behind him. "It looks ugly, but it works. The main problem is the fuel intake. Due to lack of time, there is no way to make the fuel distribution automatic."

"..." The three girl's present did not understand what was wrong. But Touma knew within a few seconds.

"...No." Touma could see where this was going. "I will not allow anyone to be sacrificed to stop High Priest."

"Who said anyone has to die?" Percival picked up the rocket with his right hand. "It is just that the fuel has to be added manually. And I will be the one to do it."

"I won't allow it!" When Percival turned to get out of their current location, he found Touma to be blocking his way, as was Kaori. "There is no need to involve you in my battle this much, Yurei-san!" Touma raised his right hand. "I know your weakness. You can't attack proficiently right now, right? And there is not enough time. That wave is going to destroy this part of Academy city."

What Touma had just said was true. After this event was over, there is bound to be loads of panicked individuals. That would be when Anti-skill and Judgement comes in to help soothe the populace, as well as protect Academy city from outsiders who would wish to take advantage of the situation. If Anti-skill were to lose all of their specialized equipment right here and now, the effects could end up with Academy city having many losses, in terms of monetary terms, livelihoods, and technological development, which was essential in this city of Science.

"I came into your life **knowing this would happen,** Kamijou-san." Percival placed the rocket back down. "I believed I mentioned it before. That there were many events coming. This is one of them."

"...And you knew of this, but didn't warn us? Or even prepare things to help take down High Priest?" Touma knew he was wasting time, but he wanted to also know what was going on. "At least tell us what is going to happen when all of this is over."

"No can do on the telling." Percival rolled his shoulders, making Kaori reach for her blade by her side. "I don't even know when they might happen, or who they will involve. All I know is the names of the possible enemies you would face, and the number of events that would take place. This is just one down on that list."

The next thing Percival did, none of them could react to it in time. Not even Touma, who had precognition.

Something was thrown into the air. A split second later, it exploded with a blinding light. It was a that flashbang had been released. And it was a military grade version too. So, the moment it was thrown into the air, Percival had looked away and ran, grabbing the rocket as he did so.

Touma and the rest were not so lucky.

Kaori and Touma took the full brunt of the attack, which momentarily blinded the two. There was also a large ringing in their ears, making it hard for them to concentrate, much less walk. The two bystanders here, Misaki and Kuroko, were slightly better, but not by much. They too had been blinded, and had a slight ringing in their ears, so they stood on their feet unsteadily. Their communication balls had also seemed to fail, so they were unable to defend against that attack.

Half a minute later, maybe less, they heard Mikoto speak. "What's going on?" Mikoto's voice resounded dully in everyone's ears. They then heard her land on the ground.

"Yurei-san is going to launch the rocket at High Priest, with him on it!" Touma shouted out, the ringing in his ears making it hard for him to even **hear** his own voice. "He has to manually add in the fuel, so that's why he is doing this!"

"Tsk." Mikoto clicked her tongue, using her powers to try and find the moving Percival.

**"Don't bother, Misaka-san."** Percival's voice burst to life in her ear. **"I threw the rocket upwards, then fed it the fuel. By now, I am just above your reach, even if you use a electrical slingshot to fire yourself towards me."**

"How did you get up so fast?" Mikoto could not help but look skywards, searching for any telltale signs of the rocket and Percival.

**"It's amazing what using a ****combination**** of electricity and reactive elements, combined with water, can do to launch you so high into the air."** Percival's voice began to have some slight interference in it. **"Although, my launching area might be ****partially**** melted and blown up."**

"You should have expected that." A glint of metal caught her eye, and she focused on it. When she strained her eyes, she could dimly see white smoke and debris falling back towards the ground from below the metal glint.

**"Well, now is time for my debut as the first man to launch a rocket using rare metals! I'll see all of you in time for dinner at Kamijou-san's place. Please be gentle with my punishment."** "You-"

Mikoto knew that further words were unneeded. Not because she was too late to change his mind, nor because she would be unable to do anything. But because the comms were now filled with static, indicating Percival was now out of range.

Mikoto could only look at the glint once more, before she looked back to her surroundings. Already, she could hear sirens approaching their area due to the large mass of earth suddenly collapsing, as well as the chatter of people.

"Such misfortune..." Sighing, Mikoto uttered Touma's catchphrase, before she went to work.

..

..

A few minutes later, various Anti-skill members arrived. The only things that they saw when they arrived at the silo like area Mikoto and Co. were at before was a few damaged drones, a burn mark, and a few pieces of metal.

* * *

**AN**

**Well, I guess this is not too bad of an ending, right?**

**...Who am I kidding, this feels really lukewarm. Well, not too worry, the next chapter would put an end to the High Priest Arc. After that, I will try to release a new chapter in conjunction with the ending of my first arc in this series! Stay tuned for my next updates!**

**Also, this is about Aogami. If you interested, read on! If not, wait for my next chapters, yo ;)**

**Aogami's newest, yet stupidest, ability is a small bit of inspiration from a chapter I read. If I recall, its from...A Certain Unknown Level 0(More Specifically, the separate project known as Between The Lines by the same author.) Its chapter 76. There is also another inspiration story, but I can't recall where its from. Too many series that I have read over the years, ya know?**

**Sorry for the late update too. Had a bit of trouble with editing cause wifi became down in my area suddenly.**

**Anime is Life!**


	16. The End of a God

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

Underlined  \- Flashback/ Timeskips

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create**

* * *

**Chapter 15: The end of a god.**

"Ka ka ka!"

"Shut it, you old geezer!"

Percival was hanging on for dear life as he rode the rocket. As planned, High Priest had been captured, and was being forcefully departed by said rocket into outer space, where he would be unable to hurt anyone for years to come.

...At least, that was the plan.

_When Touma's luck is involved, you can never count on luck to help you out, huh. _Percival sighed inwardly. _Well, it's not like I am unhappy about this arrangement, though. _

The rocket which Percival had just launched using combination of fuel he made, electrical propulsion, and a large earth wall being erected suddenly at the moment of the explosion did not have nearly enough power to launch High Priest into space. Because of him hitching a ride to around 3-quarters of the distance from space and the ground, this resulted in the expected distance for the rocket to go to be reduced. Also, because the rocket was to not explode until Percival was a safe distance away, he had to use his electrical powers to keep the rocket intact, while clinging onto its side like a certain spandex-wearing red and blue hero.

Already, he was down to 5 fuel capsules. He could not afford to make more. Not when he was fully focused on keeping himself onto the rocket long enough that they were high up in the stratosphere.

Then, speaking out loud, he said. "This is a message intended for the individual named Kihara Noukan. Please meet up with me after you do what you must. We need to talk."

"Ho?" High Priest smirked. "Have you gone delirious, little boy? Perhaps, with madness?"

"Not really, no." Percival gave a knowing smile towards the old man. He had lost his golden blade sometime during the launching. "This is a wish of mine. A request, rather. If he responds, well, that's great. If he doesn't, well, there is plan B. But that plan is too long. This world is about to descend into organised chaos, and I intend to help with the reduction of casualties."

"Ho ho." High Priest smiled in response. "You are similar to Kamijou Touma to a certain extent. Perhaps you would have done well as our Scorer as well, young one."

"Not really."

"...Do tell. What makes you so different from the rest?" High Priest suddenly asked. Percival looked down. _Looks like we are pretty high up. _He listened to High Priest as he inserted yet another capsule. Three left. "Your mana and your aura...they do not resemble that of a typical magician."

"...You wish to know?" Two left.

"Yes."

Percival was hesitant in speaking. Not only because he knew what was coming, but because if he did, he would be putting himself in the scopes of any Kihara in Academy city. The danger far outweighed the benefits of him telling High Priest. Overly so. But...

_A dying man's last wish then. _"I come from-"

The wind blew harshly in everyone's ears. Percival's voice could not be heard, but his mouth was moving.

High Priest laughed. "I see! So that is what makes you so different!"

"Goodbye then, old man High Priest." Percival waved his hand at his captive, before he released his grip. "It's the afterlife for you."

"Pah!" High Priest scoffed. As it was, they were now getting further away from one another. "You can't kill me."

"Not me." Percival's voice could be barely heard, but High Priest was able to discern his words. "Someone you know."

"Wha-"

***Boom!* *Slink***

Two sounds were made in that lonely sky. Only one could be heard in High Priest's ears.

Numbly, he looked towards his chest. A long drill of tungsten had pierced the center of his body. It had gone through the engine he had been strapped to, blew it up, and skewered his chest like a piece of meat. As he looked at the tip that was protruding through his chest, he could feel his **very being being destroyed**.

"This is a message from the ghost named Aleister."

The weapon, the special steel drill, tore through the High Priest's giant form and its rotation produced and extremely high-speed and systematic fluctuation. Not only did it bring about the High Priest's death, but it created waveforms which were converted into words to convey someone's will directly to the High Priest's body rather than through the vibrations of his eardrums.

"Do you remember the life that was taken by destiny as if to smash the childish gears of a desire to make the world a better place and to save every last member of the human race? Do you remember my daughter's name?"

The mummy High Priest received that will and his body was still pierced down the center.

Oddly, what he remembered was not the daughter's name, but the "ghost" who had created that situation.

That ghost had been a coldhearted pragmatist and yet went on the passionate rampages of a madman. Even as he cursed the imperfections of mankind, he had married a woman.

Even as he rejected human emotion as impure, he had kept a journal. Even as an expert who had mastered magic, he had shown interest in the path of science. And even as he had determined he would need to fill so many boys and girls with chemicals, he had left a transparent tearstain in his journal on the day his own daughter had died. That "human" was the king of man who had rejected becoming a god of magic. He had seen meaning in that and had chosen to remain in the same realm as his family without giving up on anything.

"...I see..." High Priest would have muttered this if he had the time. Percival's words made sense to him now.

_"Goodbye then, old man High Priest. It's the afterlife for you."_

_"Not me. Someone you know."_

His last thoughts were of the ghost that had killed him, before he was ripped to shreds by the combination of the rocket exploding, the tungsten drill fragmenting in his body, and the wind pressure from the rocket exploding with the force of a thousand fireworks.

* * *

Back below. Far below the exploding rocket, a golden retriever hovered in the air, surrounded by countless rockets and pieces of tech that served multiple functions. A skinny arm unrelated to all of the weaponry loaded on that metal unit surrounding the dog extended, placing a cigarette in the dog's mouth and lighting it.

"...Message received, Percival Yurei." The golden retriever, now identified as Kihara Noukan, muttered. "We shall talk at a later date. As for right now," The golden retriever jumped off the building he was on, the large equipment he was wearing following him as he moved. "I have a meeting scheduled with two certain magic gods."

* * *

Somewhere in academy city...

It was a very nice day in Academy City. Other than the scorching sun in the sky, it was a very good day for a person to have a picnic.

Several students were actually having a picnic in the side of a riverbank, while others lounged in the sun. All was peaceful, until-

***Bish!***

A large fountain of water appeared! Students started to panic, not having expected this large amount of water to be suddenly shot into the air.

Actually, Percival had smashed into the waters with the force of a bomb dropped during WW2. The surrounding waters was brought up into a large wave, crashing against the sides and dousing it with water, before it receded back into the canal. The few students who were lounging on the sides caught unawares were also drenched, spluttering for air by the sudden douse of cold water.

Amidst the chaos that ensued, a soaking boy appeared from its depths like something out of a horror movie, a metallic shield strapped to his arm.

"...Well, that was shit-tastic." He muttered under his breath sarcastically. "Even though I used **{****Durability}** to reduce the damage I would get from falling nearly 85 kilometres, and -ow- using mud to soften the impact, plus my electrical abilities to slow down my fall, I still ended up with -ow-, a broken bone."

Nursing his bruised ribs with his left hand, Percival tapped into the gem in his shield. Its surface rippled, before it spat out a phone. Limping, he made his way to behind a large building, before he rested against it's side.

He pressed a number and placed it against his ear. The dial tone rang for a few seconds, before it ended. **"Hello~?"** A female voice rang out.

"It's me, Niang-Niang." Percival winced as he shifted his weight. By now, a few sirens could be heard. The large spout of water from earlier was bound to have attracted needless amount of attention.

**"Oooh! Percival Yurei-kun!"** Niang-Niang's overly excited voice resounded dully in his ears. **"Are we meeting now?"**

"Yeah. Come to this location." As Percival told her the location, he knew he had to move fast. For various reasons. "We need to have a small chat on a few things."

* * *

After Mikoto managed to get the entire group back to a reasonable degree of awareness, they decided to make their way to the Kuroko's workplace, seeing as it was a branch that was not very frequently approached. However-

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence was enveloping the entire Judgement Office branch 177. All of them were just sitting there, heavy expressions on their face. Despite the number of people around, it was dead silent. If one ignored the occasional shout and talking outside, the office could have been mistaken for a ghost house. Ruiko tried to break the silence first.

"H-hey, Konori-san", she stuttered. "Do you have any of those doughnuts left?"

"Hm?" Konori replied, albeit distracted at first. "A-ah, yeah. They are in the fridge. Let me get the-."

"**KAMIJOU**" A sudden roar shocked everyone out of their current state. The door burst open, revealing-

"Aogami?" Touma leapt up from his seat, shock clearly on his features. "Why are you here?"

"Tsk tsk tsk," Aogami waved his finger. "The right question should be: 'How are you here?'.And the answer to that is because I found you with my Kami-disease sensor! And to answer your earlier question..." Aogami jumped at Touma. "It's for DIVINE RETRIBUTION!"

"Get off me you maniac!" Touma attempted to fend off the craze blue-haired boy, to no avail.

"Nyah~ You deserve that Kami-yan~" A familiar blonde-haired boy's voice drawled through the air. "After all, you got an ojou-sama as your girlfriend."

"Oi! Tsuchimikado!" Touma managed to pin Aogami down long enough for him to shout at Motoharu. "How did you know that?! Or rather, did you say that on purpose to get this idiot here to attack me!?"

"Nah, that was all Aogami." Motoharu frowned for a bit. "But how he managed to get that guess of his spot on is beyond me...you awakened something terrible in him, Kami-yan~"

"Never mind that, get this pervert off of me!" Touma sent a few kicks at Aogami, further pushing the downed pervert into the floor.

"I'd rather not." Motoharu's smile pissed Touma off. "Maika would be angry with me if I did something like interrupt a fight, so I'm staying out of this."

"Ah~ Maika is such an angel." Aogami stopped his attempts at attacking Touma for a moment. "She offered to help clean my room just last week, as well as give me some food for the next day." Touma took this chance to give a strong elbow, forcing Aogami off of him for that moment.

"What?!" Motoharu's sunglasses glinted as he stared at the blue haired pervert. "You stay away from my sister you pervert!"

"Who, me?" Aogami scoffed as he adjusted his posture, allowing him to pin down Touma. Sometime during the conversation, their positions had become reversed, with Aogami sitting on Touma's back and pulling his legs up. "If anything, you are the pervert, Sis-con Sergeant!"

""NO, ITS YOU!"" Twin yells echoed in the small office as Motoharu jumped into the fray in anger. The three of them fought so hard and vigorously, they became a cloud of dust.

"Maika's innocence is at stake here! I am not allowing someone who is a pervert to be near her!" The sound of a fist hitting flesh could be heard.

"You can't label me as a pervert!" The dust intensity grew. "I just love any girl from any genre, from 2-D to 3-D, to catgirls, dog girls, mermaids, zombie girls, cyborgs, witches, slime girls, elves, lolitas, big breast, small breast, no breast, futanari, tentacle girl, ghost girl, dark elf, vampires, dragon girls, yanderes, tsunderes, kuuderes(1), danderes(2), maid-san, priestess, nuns, holy women, angels, devils, clones, monster girls, little sister, big sister, divorced wife, recently married mother, widowed mother, gluttons, sadists, masochists, and muscle girls!"

"You're not helping your case!" Touma's voice could be heard clearly, despite the ruckus the trio were making. "Someone, arrest this man! He is a true, honest-to goodness, pervert who would not think twice about marrying underage girls!"

"Even I draw the line at that, Kamijou!"

"Well, would you do it if she was 12 years old, but gave you the 'Onii-chan, will you marry me?' talk!?"

"Maaaaayybeee..."

"See? See? Officer-san, arrest this man!"

"Nyah~ You can argue all you want, but sisters are the best, even more so if they are adopted ones! Its legal in the eyes of the law!"

""Screw you, Sis-con Sergeant/ Nyah-Nyah bastard!"" Twin voices refuted Motoharu at the same time.

"At least have a respectable preference which is attainable, like a Dorm-manager onee-san!"

"Yeah! What Kamijou said!"

As this was going on, all the girls in, the room plus one boy, were watching this unfold with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

""...Ehhhhh...?""

"This...I can't even..." Informant sat down heavily. "This is soo stupid, yet interesting at the same time."

"Yeah." Kuroko found herself agreeing with Informant's line of thought. "Even though I despise the ape, this sort of conversation sort of just...draws you in if you are interested in it. Hey, you!" She cut herself off, instead shouting and pointing at Informant.

"?" Informant titled his head, a doughnut in his mouth. He looked around him, before he pointed to himself. "Mmff?(Me?)"

"You still owe me!" Kuroko teleported directly in front of the relaxing male, landing on his lap. "And I intend to pay you back a thousand fold!"

"Wmf vu I ohf veu?(What do I owe you?)"

"Yoouuuuu..." Kuroko growled in rage, her twin tails coming to life. "HOW COULD YOU FORGET, Ape No.2 ?!"

""Hoh~"" Synchronized voices made their way into Kuroko's ears. ""A yandere and tsundere character, huh...""

"Eek?!" Surprised and a little creeped out, Kuroko teleported herself behind her initial target.

"Mm mm." Aogami nodded as he appraised Kuroko from his position. "This girl...she has the makings of a tsundere, plus a hint of yandere mixed into it. With, maybe...a loyal dog attribute?"

"Who you calling a yandere?" Kuroko's tsukkomi fell on death ears.

"Naw," Motoharu disagreed, getting closer to the fuming girl. "She is not a tsundere or yandere. But, she does fit the Ojou-sama category, since she attends Tokiwadai. And, she does have a hint of the loyalty attribute. Your thoughts, Delta Force member 3, Kami-yan?"

"I'm...staying out of this." Touma slowly backed away. "You guys dragged me into your pace so many times before. No way am I making that mistake when it comes to a teleporter."

"Kami-nyan~" Motoharu slung one arm across Touma's neck. "There is no risk when it comes to do just saying your opinions."

"Yeah Kamijou~" Aogami did slung his arm on the other side of Touma. "It's fine, its fine. We will have our back~ You scratch our backs, we scratch yours, and all that~"

"Fine...mmm..." Touma relented, albeit with a face that said he had surrendered. He hummed in thought for a bit, before he opened he spoke. "Well, she is ferociously protective of Mikoto, so she kinda has the loyal attribute. But, despite being an ojou-sama, she does have the hidden attribute of an M."

""M?!"" The remaining members of the Delta Force exclaimed in shock.

"This Ojou-sama?" Motoharu scoffed. "Her skin is so smooth and delicate. There is no way she would enjoy an S's attacks."

"What if it does not leave any cuts or bruises?" Aogami suggested. "Then, she would be able to keep her 'M' side hidden. Kamijou did say that that attribute of hers was hidden, after all."

"Plausible." Motharu agreed. "So, does she have a thing for this buff man she is currently cowering behind?"

"I concur."

"...No comment."

"What the hell is going on?" Konori, who had the closest idea to what was going on, seeing as she was the same age as them, asked in disbelief. "Weren't they arguing just a few minutes ago, and beating each other to the death?"

"Male...bonding...perhaps?" Ruiko asked with her head titled slightly.

"Well, Othi-chan, do you want to talk?" Informant slipped away from the chaos. Now that Kuroko had gotten over the 'attack' from the two boys, she had started to teleport spikes into the clothes to pin them down and arrest them for sexual harassment. Including one spiky haired misfortunate boy, who let out a cry of "Such Misfortune!" when one of said spikes caused a tear in his pants.

"I said not to call me Othi-chan." Othinus grumbled. "And I shall agree to a chat, little boy."

"Good." He quietly slipped out of the room, drastically reducing the shouting and crying when he shut the door. They(Or rather, he) headed to the top the of building. They would not be heard there, unless one counted the countless nano-drones that made up the entire network system of the superintendent of Academy City. "Its about the future of Kamijou Touma."

Othinus narrowed her eye."Watch your words, worm."

"I got degraded to a worm?" Informant placed his hand over his heart. "I'm hurt you would think so lowly of me, Othinus, Goddess of war." Othinus noted Informant's tone changing fro m somewhat playful, to being very serious."It is nothing that would be too harmful to Kamijou-san. Although, this might increase the number of times he has to go the hospital."

"...You wish for him to make a faction." The wind blew across the roof.

"Not me, per-say, but yeah. That's the gist of it." Informant placed Othinus down on the ground, where he sat down across from her. "Right now, he has a faction in name, even though he has had no intention of forming one from the beginning."

"...My Understander draws people to him, whether he likes it, or knows it." Othinus agreed. "It would be inevitable that there would be many bonds forming from every encounter, and as such, the assumption of the formation of the 'Kamijou Faction' from a few weeks before WW3."

"Which leads me to the topic of today's conversation." Informant crossed his arms over his chest. "The official creation and formation of the Kamijou Faction."

"And, do tell, why must I be asked about this?"

"Its because you will not only be part of the Faction's core members, but also be part of the Faction's secrets." Informants reasoning made sense to Othinus. After all, she was the first ever word-wide wanted world terrorist. Granted, she had changed because of Touma, but not everyone knew that, nor would they care. Out of the 7 billion plus people in the world, only a total of 18 people allowed her continued existence **willingly**.

"...That still does not explain why we are having this conversation." Othinus sat down. "You could be giving me this information whenever you discuss this with Touma."

"That's because Touma would rather leave everything up to him then others. The best way to get him to agree to something is to either trick him into doing it, force him to do it, or push it onto him." Informant indicated each option with three fingers, before he closed one of them. "But the second option is bound to either backfire spectacularly, or end up with no progress, so option one and three are the most viable options. And out of both of them, the third one is the best, seeing as he is an individual which is easy to drag into various problems or events, given enough prodding."

"...That is too accurate a description of my Understander." Othinus's expression did not change. "So, you wish to make the faction behind his back, and when it is almost done, you will push it all onto him?"

"Basically." Informant nodded. "So, we will need you to distract him from getting too close to our plan before it is ripe enough for him to use."

"...I will agree with you. But on one condition."

"Name it." Informant did not looked surprised by the demand.

"Keep Touma safe from harm as much as possible."

"That's a loaded demand and you know it as much as I do!" Informant exclaimed.

"...then I shall leave it for a later date then. You both owe me one." Othinus decided. "Is that all?"

"Yeah." Informant stood up, before he knelt down and offered his hand to Othinus. She jumped on. "Let's get back down. I really want to see what has been happening during this five minute chat of ours."

* * *

"...This is absolutely insane." Was what Informant said the moment he opened the door.

"Ehehehe..." Ruiko rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah...everything went out of hand."

Why was Informant giving such a dead look towards the small group inside the Judgement office? Well, its because somehow, during the five minutes he was up on the roof, everything had went to hell.

The entire office seemed to have had a hurricane swept through it, as well as a flood. Papers were lying everywhere inside the office. Puddles of liquid were also here and there. Some was milk, some was tea. The rest was water. And then, there was the food he had made.

Bits of the doughnuts he had painstakingly made were strewn all over the place. Some of them had spikes in them, pinning them to walls, chairs or the floor, as if they were being crucified(All of them had been pierced through the center. They did not have the typical hole in the center.). Others had been smashed or crushed. One even looked like it had been face-planted into, its red strawberry insides spilled all over the once clean floor.

"How did a punishment being inflicted on three people," informant gestured wildly to the current state of the office. "lead to THIS?!"

""We are very sorry for making this mess,"" Four voices said in tandem, their respective owner's heads placed down to the ground.

"Are you?" A currently furious Konori Mii tapped her foot against the floor. "The papers will all have to be refiled and printed, the floor would have to be mopped and scrubbed to get rid of any sticky residue. The same goes for the walls. We will also have to replace a few chairs because of how damaged they are." Konori listed off each item that had to be done, her tapping increasing in frequency as she listed them out. "AND the walls will have to be patched up because of the holes you made, Kuroko! Plus, we had to do some more paperwork regarding those mysteriously injured espers, but since this place resembles a food court which was used for a food fight, we would have to do it somewhere else."

""We are very sorry, Konori-san!"" Three male voices spoke in tandem.

"You will be, because all of you are cleaning up this mess, and the repairs are coming out of your budget." The tapping finally stopped, but her tone of voice did not change.

"...How much are the repairs going to cost?" Touma asked in a small voice.

"Well..." Konori looked around. You damaged four chairs, each of them a 1,000 yen, the walls would be about 5,000 yen, and the floor...if you clean it up properly, its free. But, if you mess up, you will have to pay 10,000 yen for the insect killers. So, in total you would have to pay between 9,000 yen to 19,000 yen."

"1-19,000 y-yen!?" Touma wailed in sorrow. "I'm already broke! How will I pay for even 5,000 yen, much less 19,000 yen!"

"It's not as if you are paying for everything yourself, you know?" Konori raised her eyebrow, a little taken aback by Touma's reaction.

"Konori-san, his luck is so bad, he would most likely end up having to pay the entire cost." Mikoto sighed. "Once, he wanted to buy some groceries for his next week's worth of meals. But at the end of the day, he somehow ended up with no groceries, his money all spent, and a new girl's phone number."

"T-that's..."

"Nyah~ It's true Konori-san!" Motoharu spoke from his still bowing position. "He is horrible with his luck regarding almost everything around him. But when it comes to girls...he is the luckiest man in the world! The entire population of girls in our class already have feelings for him, and that's not even counting the number of girls he saved every other week!"

"C-come on...not every girl has a crush on me." Touma tried to defend himself. "I would be lucky if I even get a...ah, never mind. Such misfortune." Tried, being the key word.

"We have proof!" Aogami lifted his head, digging into his pocket for something, before he brought it out for everyone to see. "Our teacher absolutely favors him! Every time its her class, she would pay more attention to him than anyone else!"

"K-komoe-sensei is just looking out for me! Plus, if I do not have to take supplementary lessons, I would take that chance!" Touma tried to worm himself out of potential misunderstandings and trouble, but-

"No way that is your teacher." Kuroko took one look and dismissed his claims, before she gained an evil look. "But, now I can arrest the ape for attempting to seduce a preschool student!"

"Wai-" Touma's plead for help was cut short but Ruiko shout.

"THAT is you teacher!?" Ruiko looked at the picture , her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "She was the one who taught all of us after the Level Upper incident!"

""...Eh?""

* * *

After all the chaos (from various things)subsided, Aogami and Motoharu left the office.

"...You guys alright now?" Informant made sure the duo had left before he said anything.

"Why ask us that?"

"Well, its because author-san has no clue on how to proceed this part smoothly, so he is making this part super awkward for everyone." Informant deadpanned.

"Huuuuuh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Anyway, are you guys finally out of that funk you were in?" Informant sat across from Touma, Mikoto and Misaki. "It was getting real depressing, you know?"

"We are...I guess..." Touma looked conflicted as he spoke. "Its just...what happened to Percival? He was blasted off into space...right? How can anyone survive in space?"

***Ding***

Touma looked surprised as he heard his phone go off.

Touma took it out of his pocket. "Who-" His eyes widened dramatically, before it clattered to the floor, free from his grasp.

"What's wrong?" Mikoto bent down to pick up the phone. When she looked at the screen to see what it was, her face became beet red almost immediately. She too dropped the phone. "Wha-wha-wha-hwa-ahw-wha"

"Misaka-san." Misaki looked cross as she bent down to pick up Touma's phone. "That is not very..." She trailed off as she looked at the screen and saw its contents. "...Ara..."

"Why is everyone overeating over something?" Informant lightly sighed.

"Touma was sent a picture of Misaka-san in a dress from when she was performing." Misaki smiled. "This person's photo taking ability is very good." She then showed the phone to everyone to see.

It was a photo off Mikoto, as she had just said. The dress what what she had worn when she represented Tokiwaida when they had their open house. That was the first thing anyone saw.

Then, their eyes were drawn to what she was holding in her hand. Instead of the violin she had played that day...

"These are very amazing photoshopping skills." Uiharu commented as she looked at the image closer.

"...Stupid idiot..." Informant sighed, this time much heavier than earlier, when he saw the person who had sent it.

***Ring-ring***

"Hey, you idiot, what the hell do you think you are doing?" That was the first words that left Informant's mouth when he answered the call.

**"Really?"** Percival's voice rang through the air. **"I thought it would be a good way to show that the 3rd Level 5 esper was now taken. Why, was that bad?"**

"Ohhhh hell no, sonny boy. That was not bad. It is a can of hell's worms."

**"Ah..."** Percival nervously chuckled through the phone. **"I'm sor- wait, I'm on loud speaker, aren't I?"**

""YES!"" A chorus of shouts filled the air.

**"Tee hee?"**

"Tee hee my ass, Percival!" Informant yelled. "You made these guys feel guilty as hell! When I get my hands on you..."

**"I'm sorry, Please forgive me."** Percival was silent for a bit, before he spoke again. **"So, just a heads up. I'm alive and well, don't worry about me. I'll be out of action for awhile though, so don't come looking for me. I'm doing some behind-the-scenes type of thing. Plus, a few missions to do on my end."**

"Percival..." Touma's word made everyone look at him. "You have some explaining to do when you get back."

**"I know that. And I might consider telling you people everything, if the situation dictates it to be so."** They heard some crashes in the background, as well as someone speaking. **"Whoops. Looks like I have to get back. Informant-"**

"Yeah?" Informant's face turned impassive.

**"Stay with them. You gonna need to help them out with things I left for them. They are at Kamijou's place, so do go there when you are free to help them."**

**"Oh, and Saten-san."** A pause. **"The tablet auto marks the questions you have done, as well as times the time taken for each question. So, keep at it."**

"Yes Sir!" Ruiko could not help but make a mock salute, even though she knew he could not see her. "I will do my best!"

The line went dead.

"...Well, you heard Percival." Informant placed the phone back in his pocket. "Looks like I would be sticking with you guys."

"..."

"..."

"..." Everyone remained silent.

"I thought you guys might react more, but whatever." Informant shrugged, making his way to the door. He opened it and left but not saying some parting words that drove the entire room into a frenzy.

"Oh, and your entire class knows you have a girlfriend now. Percival texted them a picture of you and Misaka-san kissing. Good luck tomorrow."

It took a while before everyone calmed down.

* * *

Timeskip. Two days later.

It was very silent. Too silent for Touma's liking. Right now, he was standing outside the door to his classroom.

It had been two days since the incident with High Priest. Two days since the class had been told of Touma's new relationship status.

When he entered the school, everything seemed to be fine. The students were noisy, the constant sound of chatter filling the air of the school. Everything seemed normal.

But, when he neared his classroom, the bustle and hustle from earlier quietened down, like it was all an illusion. The sounds of chattering students faded to become mere background music the closer he got to his classroom(Which was, conveniently, located at the middle of the hallway he was walking). By the time he reached his classroom, the noises were distant.

It seemed that all the hustle and bustle were just located at the front of the school, as well as the above and below the levels he was currently on.

_What do I do? _Not surprisingly, he was sweating slightly. Of course, this was to be expected.

His classroom was easily the noisiest of the bunch, as well as the one which cared for their teacher the most(Not surprisingly, it was Komoe-sensei's class). And it was because of this care that they would listen to their teacher the most, when push came to shove. And yet, it was dead silent.

A few scenarios ran in his head for this reason of silence, as well as the expected outcome for his entering the class.

Scenario A: The class was busy doing some self-study because of Komoe-sensei's tears. When he entered, not much would happen.

Scenario B: The class(Mostly the boys) was waiting in ambush for him to enter. When he did, they would restrain him, tie him up, and feed him to the sharks. (Aka the Iron Wall Girl, Fukiyose Seiri, Tsumikado Motoharu, and Aogami Pierce.). Then Komoe-sensei would cry and tell them to release the spiky haired boy and resume class.

Scenario C: The class would act like nothing is wrong, then they ask Touma about his relationship status, after which he would get beaten up and chewed out by his class(His gut was actually thinking that this one was most likely.). Then, he would be given even more homework, and be forced to go though more torture via more rounds for Touma in his injured state.

_Maybe I am just overthinking things. _Touma smiled, even though inside his heart, he was extremely terrified. _A-after all, t-they would no over-react to something like this...r-right? _He nodded his head firmly. _Y-yeah! I'm just overthinking things! Everything will just be fine!_

Steeling himself, he opened the sliding door that led to his classroom.

..

..

..

..

"Such Misfortune!"

Touma cried out, tears running down his face as he feebly moved left to right to avoid the incoming blows.

"Shut up" A classmate of his cried out, tears similarly running down his face. "How do you think WE feel! Death to the Kami-yan disease!"

""Death to the Kami-yan disease!""

In tandem to his shout, the rest of the males in the class raised their voices and cried out, hands in the air.

"Curse you Kamijou!" More tears running down his face, the first boy raised his fist. "You always lament your misfortune, yet every time you do so, you have a new girl going after you, infected by the Kami-yan disease!" Raising his head, the boy picked up something he had dropped earlier. A bag full of an unknown substance. "And now, you get a girlfriend!? Moreover, it is the rich Ojou-sama type! How could you do this to us!" The boy placed his hand inside the bag, revealing-

A tomato.

"Curse you Kamijou!" In response the other boys in the class took out their various weapons of fruits and vegetables.

""Curse You!""

With that cry, Touma was further bombarded by the flying fruits and vegetables.

"Such Misfortune!"

..

Now, why was Touma being bombarded by fruits and vegetables? The answer was because of Percival's message. More specifically, the contents.

It had been sent to every student in Touma's class. Their messages all varied, but the one thing that was constant was this.

A single photo. One that showed Touma kissing Mikoto.

Now, the photo had been censored very well, so the features of the person could not be seen at all. But it was clear that the person was female, due to her attire. Nor did that change the fact that Touma was in the photo.

Kissing.

Said girl.

In the photo.

The first thing everyone thought was that this was a prank of Percival's. In the short one month, it became clear that he loved to prank or tease his classmates. Crushes, likes, dislikes. Any and all things could be used as an arsenal in his teasing or pranking scheme. That part of him made him easily accepted by the class, although it made him a little less trustworthy to take facts from about others(Disregarding schoolwork. He tutored those who asked for his help.)

But then, after some discussions with each other online, it was clear the photo was real.

For one, the photo's background behind Touma and the girl matched smoothly. This left two options. One, the picture was from two pictures, each coming from the same area it was taken from. The other, more reasonable option, was that Touma and the girl were actually dating.

His expression in the picture did not help matters either.

So, the males hatched a plan. One that was executed brilliantly partially because half the girls in the class were still reeling from the fact that Touma now had a girlfriend, and partially because half of the girls were out of it, their delusion of being with Touma having been smashed. Well, except for Fukiyose and Himegami. The former would most likely bash Touma's head in for getting a middle-schooler as a girlfriend, while the latter would more likely take a passive approach towards Touma being unavailable from the market . She had a passive-aggressive stance towards Touma from the start. No need to change that now.

..

Anyway, back to the current situation. How did Touma end up being pelted by various fruits and vegetables(Just to be clear, these came from dirt-cheap sales)? Well-

When he entered the classroom, a rope was there to grasp his foot the moment he entered the classroom. Surprised by this, he was then dragged through a few desks, each with various liquids in small buckets on it(Sesame oil, tartar sauce, mayonnaise and olive oil), then hoisted up into the middle of the classroom, a tarp underneath it.(Hey, they did not want to clear up TOO great a mess!). From there, various boys and girls vented their anger, frustrations and shattered illusions at the hanging Touma.

In fact, the only people who were not participating in this was Fukiyose(She was not in class yet.), Himegami(Her presence was thinner than air.), their teacher(Komoe-sensei was busy bringing various papers she had graded into her car.), a few girls(they had neutral feelings towards Touma), and the two members of the Delta Force(They would rather fight it out instead of waste precious food. A certain Judgement officer's punishment was still on their mind.)

"Death to the Kami-yan disease!"

""Death!""

"Such Misfortune!"

This witch-hunting cry echoed throughout the school for the next few minutes, until Fukiyose entered the room, forcibly brought order to the room through her will-power filled shout and pumeling(boys only, including the Delta Force and the already abused Touma -"Frozen tomatoes are hard!"- ), and subsequent pummeling of the Delta Trio. The mess was cleaned up in time for Komoe-sensei to start her lesson.

Although the food remains dripping from Touma, Fukiyose, Motoharu and Pierce did draw eyes to the four students more than a few times over the course of the next periods.

* * *

School had ended. Touma, still having a few bits of food in his clothes(Thankfully, it did not draw too much attention to him), made his way back to his room.

"Haaa..." Touma sighed out. Opening the door, the first sight he was met with was-

"Touma, Touma!"

-Index excitedly slurping up some noodles from a large package.

"Look!" She excitedly pointed towards the large package. "A kind soul sent us this package! And it was full of food too!"

A bad feeling welled up inside Touma. "Index..." He cautiously made his way to the opened package. "Exactly, where, did you find this package?"

"Hmm?" She looked up from her bowl of cup noodles, momentarily pausing her eating. "Ah, it was outside the door!"

Slo~wly, he opened up the flap of the package. There, written on the flap-

-..-

To: Kamijou Touma

Location: A Certain Dormitory, Room 07-XX

From: A certain individual

Fragile! Handle with Care!

-..-

"It is addressed to me..." Touma felt the bad feeling in him grow. _I am never this lucky. Or rather, who sends a box full of food to my dorm? Not that I am complaining or anything, but I would rather have a box full of ingredients to use._

"Ah, Touma!" Index put down her cup noodles(Now empty) on the newest table(The last one collapsed under the weight of the Daybreaker, surprisingly. It had been pretty light when Touma wore it.), and went over to the bed. Lifting the covers, she took out a piece of paper from under the covers. "I found this! Someone sent it to you!" The seal had been broken, signifying it had been opened by Index.

Taking it cautiously, he unfurled the paper. _Oh? This is a letter. Addressed to me. _His eyes scanned its contents.

-..-

Dear Touma,

Here is a gift, from me to you.

Well, not too sure on when it would arrive at your place. It's full of food, as you can see. Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything. After all, its meant for you to survive your days with the growing nun. You, having such a pitiful amount of money due to your status(A small tickmark appeared on Touma's head as he read this), can't afford having to deal with the huge appetite she has, so I am helping you with this. By buying loads of cup noodles for her to eat. There are about 100 cup noodles, each meant for a family of 4, so this should last you a while. They are all different flavors, so hope she enjoys each one properly!

But enough about that. If you still do not know, it is I, Percival Yurei, who sent you this food! As I know your plight, so I have taken it upon myself to help you with your predicament! Think of this as an apology for whatever I am about to put you through, as well as a gift of thanks for what you did. You could say that this because of you, I am here!

By the way check the back after you ponder on my words. ;)

-..-

Touma took a hot minute to digest this new information. _So, Yurei-san sent me this? _He looked at the deceptively small box out of the corner of his eye. _That...is nice of him? _

Honestly, Touma kept getting mixed feelings(or vibes) from Percival. One moment, he would be cheerful, playful. Then, like a switch that was thrown, his attitude would become a total 180. He would be serious, sacrificial...

...even dangerous...

When he out of battle, in it, or even in the midst of combat, his personality, emotions, and such would be all over the place. It gave the impression he was either a good actor, or someone who does not follow the TPO(Time, place, occasion) rule closely.

But somewhere in his gut, his sixth sense was acting up. It was telling Touma that despite this erratic changes, there were a few things that were not changed, no matter the change in his attitude, actions, etc.

His intentions. His goals. And-

His personality.

His intentions were not very clear, but one thing was for certain. He was someone that held some of the same ideals that Touma had. Keeping family and friends safe from harm, and don't drag them into their problems.

And keep the trouble around them to a minimum.

Those two things are the similarities between the two.

So, it was safe to say that his intentions, in the long run, was to keep everyone safe(he guessed(?)).

Then, his goals.

Touma did not know much, but his sixth sense was telling him that Percival's goal had good intentions. For the public, or for himself, he did not know.

It was the same with Fiamma of the Right. He wanted to save the world, but his method involved using his right hand. Touma's right hand, as well as his own. This led to the creation of WW3, so Touma fought against Fiamma. Essentially, it was like a clash of ideals to save the world. That resulted in Touma's win.

And finally, his personality.

Touma had only been with the boy for about a month, so his grasp on his personality was not that great. But, from what he had seen, his playful personality and serious one were both real, and fake.

They showed his emotions, and hid them. It was like hiding in plain sight.

Touma did not know this consciously.

His subconscious did, however.

Right now, all of these inferences? They were being made in his subconscious, in the back of his mind. By the time he thinks about this again, he would have forgotten all about these inferences he had made.

Why?

Well, it was because Touma had fainted.

***Thunk***

"...Touma!" Index was slow to react, but when she saw Touma's prone form, she stood up quickly to go to him to check if he was fine.

"Touma, Touma, " She gently slapped his face, each contact making a sharp *piak-piak* sound. "Even if you are tired, you can't sleep in the middle of the entrance to the door! You should sleep on the bed!"

...Okay, maybe Index had the wrong idea about Touma's sudden collapse.

*Piak-piak, Piak-piak* Index continued to worriedly slap Touma's face gently. As she did so, Sphynx, the resident calico cat, slowly made its way to wards a brand new doll house, where a certain witch stayed in to avoid the 'hanging by cape' treatment.

In the background, a piece of paper fluttered onto the floor, exposing its contents to the world.

-..-

P.S. The food costs around 100 thousand yen. Just saying 0w0

-..-

* * *

In a certain dormitory...

"Hey, hey, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"That the 3rd Level 5 has a boyfriend?"

"Really? *Shrieks a little in excitement* What is he like? What is he like?"

"Well-"

Gossips flew left and right in the large dormitories of the prestigious all-girls school, Tokiwadai. Its contents were very easy to guess.

After all, there was a large circulation of pictures on the internet about a certain girl kissing a boy, with said boy having his face censored completely.

* * *

(1) - Often cold ad blunt. But, on the inside, they are caring(Angel beats 'Kanade' is a good example. Great series too!)

(2) - Often quiet and keeps to themselves, unless it is with a person they are attracted to

**..**

**Ka ka ka! I am still alive! I have gone through the hell known as Writer's block and won!**

**But, in all seriousness, this chapter marks the end of the High Priest Arc. This chapter, or rather, this arc, is my first one, so the story will fluctuate from good to bad many times over the course of the series. So, I thank those who frequently comment my story. The criticism is really needed, especially since I am doing two stories simultaneously, with an average of 4 chapters a month. So, things will be messy.**

**Of course, this will not excuse my bad skills in plot and writing right now. As time goes on, I'll try to make it better, and adjust past chapters. Although...that would take a lot of time, so I might not do it. Depends on the situation.**

**Thank you for reading this fic, please review more often(If you are a guest, pls use your account or type in a name so that I can shout you out for your comments that help me and such. If there is a need, I will repost a chapter that has comments that say that it need improvements. My other fic has done this already, so I'm not fibbing.)**

**And, because thus chapter is the end of an arc, and since I suck at endings(look at my first fic, Angel Beats one), I ended up with a mix of funny, depressing, stupid, and boring. I guess?**

**As always, Anime is Life!**


	17. Troubles Arising

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

Underlined \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create**

* * *

**Chapter 16:Troubles arising**

"Misaka-san!"

"Hmm?" Mikoto turned around. A familiar face met hers. "Ah, Kongou-san. How may I help you?"

"Ah, there is no need, Misaka-san." Kongou bowed her head slightly, fan out. "I do appreciate your offer to help. However, thta is not what I wished to speak to you about."

"What did you want to talk about then?" Mikoto looked intrigued. _Well, not as if I have anything to do right now._

"Go-hon." Kongou coughed from behind her fan, a faint blush hidden behind-

_...wait, a faint_ _blush?_

"Misaka-san," She began nervously. "Congratulations on getting a boyfriend!" Kongou bowed her head, her blush still on her face.

_...what?_

* * *

Making sure no one was around, she used her ability to hide from the inquisitive gazes, sticking to walls and buildings, before she managed to make her way to her room. Entering through the window quietly, she closed it and drew the curtains, preventing others from looking into the room.

"Kuro-" Turning, Mikoto began to speak to her roommate, only to stop herself halfway.

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko was sniffling her sheets. Rather loudly, in fact. "Oh, Onee-sama! Your scent, your scent is so *mmf*, so nice! Its so intoxicating! Ah, Onee-sama-"

"Kuroko!" Mikoto roared out, unleashing several lightning strikes on her perverted roommate.

"Ahh! Onee-sama's whip of love!" Kuroko writhed on the bed, further entangling herself in the sheets, before she stopped. "...Onee-sama's whip of love?"

She quickly jumped out of the bed, a few sheets still entangled onto her body. That was when she saw Mikoto's standing form. "Ah, Onee-sama!"

With the familiar sound of teleportation, Kuroko teleported herself into the arms of the brown-haired girl, momentarily surprising the esper. "Ah-"

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko hugged her roommate tightly. "Are you okay? Everyone has been talking about some rumor about you having some sort of relationship with that, that TRIGOLDYTE!"

"I'm fine Kuroko..." Mikoto smiled to reassure her friend, but on the inside, she was very nervous. _Unfortunately Kuroko, I am in a relationship with Touma... _Realizing her thoughts, her eyes widen in surprise as she struggled to contain her emotions. _Ahh! When did I start to think of that Idiot with his first name!? _Her red face started to emit a bit of steam. _I- i mean, thinking about a person and speaking that person's first name is very different, right? Especially, if you are trying to drive a point, right? Right? _Her eyes started to swim about the place. _Ah, what do I- _Kuroko's softly muttered, words, as well her actions, brought her back to the present.

Your scent" As Kuroko snuffled Mikoto nosily, she also slipped underneath Mikoto's guard, bringing her hands to her chest. "Ah, Onee-sama's scent and still budding breasts are the-"

Pow!*

"(Ano na...)You..." Mikoto growled out, her hand still sparking. "Control yourself, Kuroko!"

"That hurt, Onee-sama..." Pouting and slightly teary-eyed, Kuroko rubbed the top of her head. A small bump could be seen from where Mikoto struck the girl. "I was just expressing my love for you, Onee-sama!"

"What sort of person expresses their love for another by rubbing their breasts!?"

"My love transcends all boundaries of age and gender, Onee-sama!" Kuroko cheerfully exclaimed in response to Mikoto's tsukomi.

Sighing, Mikoto sat down on her bed. "...Did you hear about the rumors?"

That quickly dampened Kuroko's mood. "...Yes, Onee-sama." A dark cloud passed over Kuroko's face. "And we shall see who it is that has been tarnishing your reputation, Onee-sama!" The dark cloud disappeared when she saw Mikoto's face. "...Onee-sama?"

"But, that is the truth, Kuroko." Exclaiming out loud, Mikoto lay on her bed. "I'm w-with that I-idiot," Mikoto still blushed, although it was not as heavily as in the past. "and I like him. I really do. It's just...I'm not ready yet...for our relationship to go...public."

"Onee-sama..." Kuroko sat beside the lying form of her roommate. "Why are you so worried?"

"-Eh?"

"That ape is someone I despise, yes." Kuroko sighed. "But, he makes you happy, Onee-sama. You may not have noticed, but whenever you go after that ape, you always come back with a small smile on your face."

"...I do?"

"You do." Kuroko confirmed. "Besides, Onee-sama, if you were not ready for this, you would have not asked that ape to be your boyfriend so suddenly."

"I didn't know what I was thinking back then." Mikoto gave a small laugh. "I just...did not want to lose him."

"Then keep him close, Onee-sama." Kuroko offered a solution. "Keep him close, and don't let go."

"Thank you Kuroko." Mikoto sniffed a little. "But, wouldn't you be happy if I was not the girlfriend of Touma?"

"That may be true Onee-sama," Kuroko showed a dark look when Touma's name was mentioned, but it passed very quickly. "But, if you get your heart broken by him, I would be able to swoop in to soothe your broken heart, and then we-"

"Hai, **STOP!**(english)" Mikoto covered Kuroko's mouth, preventing her speaking anymore. "You were being a good friend just now. Don't spoil this nice mood we have right now with your perverted antics." Mikoto smiled. "...You do know that you will ALWAYS be my best friend, right?"

"Of course, Onee-sama." Kuroko leaned into Mikoto's side.

Mikoto do the same.

They stayed in this position for a few more minutes, enjoying the silence in the room.

* * *

***Knock knock***

"Hmm?" Kuroko raised her head. "Who is that?"

"I'll hide in the bathroom." Mikoto hurriedly moved to the aforementioned room. "If it is some girls asking about my relationship with K-kamijou, just say I went to take a walk around the campus to throw them off."

"Sure thing Onee-sama." Kuroko smiled reassuringly. "These girls will not disturb any more of our alone time more than necessary!"

Kuroko walked over to the door. Making sure Mikoto had already shifted to the toilet, she composed herself, before she opened the door, revealing-

A familiar face, framed with brown hair, her glasses glinting in the light.

"D-dorm Su-supervisor." Kuroko stuttered in fear.

"Hello Shirai-san." Fixing her glasses, the dorm manager's glasses glinted under the lights, making her look very sinister to the pig-tailed girl. "Is your roommate around?"

"A-ah!" Kuroko fumbled with her words. The aura he dorm-manager was emitting was making her even more nervous than she was! "O-onee-sama w-went for a walk around the c-campus. S-she said that it would help clear her mind. S-she was thinking a-about some t-things."

"Some things?" The dorm manger questioned. "Like, perhaps, these rumors about having boyfriend?" Kuroko gulped quietly. Something the dorm supervisor did not miss. "Speaking of," She leaned down, forcing Kuroko to meet her face to face. "You would not happen to know **who** this boyfriend of hers is, would you?"

"N-no!" Kuroko almost shrieked in fear. "I-I don not know anything about t-the ape!"

"I see..." The dorm manager straightened up. "Then, if you would excuse me."

"T-thank you..." Kuroko closed the door-

***Thunk***

"Hii!" Kuroko gave a short but slightly muffled scream, when she saw the dorm manager's foot stopping the door from closing.

"Ah, I meant that you should allow me to come in." Exerting a little more force, the dorm manager forced the door open, pushing Kuroko's small body into the wall.

Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her with an audible clack. "Misaka-san, I know you are here."

Nothing happened at first. Then, the door to the toilet creaked open.

"Do-dorm supervisor." Poking her head out, Mikoto spoke in a nervous tone. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Am I not supposed to do surprise inspections?" Raising an eyebrow, she looked around the small room.

"N-no, of course not!" Mikoto stepped out of the bathroom. "You are doing what you are supposed to."

"Indeed." She surveyed the room one more time, before she nodded her head. "Now then, I believe we have something to discuss."

"W-what is it, Dorm Supervisor?"

"It is about your boyfriend." Mikoto felt like her heart would stop. "Normally, I would be against such relationships. After all, this would reflect badly on the school." Her glasses glinted as she fixed them.

"Y-yes, dorm supervisor." Mikoto bowed her head, then she raised them. "Wait...normally?"

"I believe I said that." The dorm supervisor nodded. "Normally, we would prohibit such relationships. But, since I have met the boy in question, and that the rumors are just that, rumors, there is no reason for any punishments."

"Then-"

"Just be sure to keep to the curfew, Misaka-san. I would overlook you having a relationship with Kamijou Touma." The dorm supervisor gave a rare smile. "The boy is really one of a kind. You would be hard pressed to find someone like him."

"Y-yes, dorm supervisor!" Mikoto hurriedly bowed.

"Oh, and if you do go on dates...please remember to NOT wear the school uniform, and to hide your face." The dorm supervisor added. "If there is no evidence, then there would be no punishment. But!" A menacing aura was emitted from the dorm supervisor. "If there is any evidence...you know the consequences, yes?" As a demonstration, she grabbed the still dazed Kuroko, and did her signature move.

***Crack!*******

"Hii!" Mikoto gave a small shriek as she saw her roommate slump to the floor, out cold.

"Understood?"

"Y-yes, dorm supervisor!" Mikoto nearly shouted out, bowing at a 90 degree angle.

"Good." The aura disappeared quickly. "Enjoy the rest of the day. And please, try not to cause more disturbances, Misaka-san. You may be a Level 5, but that does not mean you would be able to escape from my punishments."

With a dull noise, the door was shut, leaving a still twitching Kuroko and a shaking Mikoto alone.

* * *

After Kuroko came too, they decided to pay someone a visit.

Making use of Kuroko's abilities, as well as Misaka's personal sonar(Which was mainly used to detect a certain Idiot, now a certain boyfriend), they reached the room they wanted to knocking on it, they came face to face with-

"Ara?" Familiar blonde hair and starry eyes met the gaze of brown ones. "Misaka-san, what brings you here?"

"Don't play with me Shokuhou." Mikoto growled out. Beside her, Kuroko nervously looked left and right, keeping a look out for any student coming their way. "You were the one who had put me in this mess."

"...?"

***Bichin***

Mikoto felt a few veins pop when she saw Misaki's face. "You-"

"Ah!" Misaki's eyes widened, as if she had just thought of the reason. Although, it looked authentic, Mikoto knew that she was playing around. This had happened before, after all. "Might you perhaps, be talking about those pictures being spread online?"

"You still deny it?" Mikoto felt her anger reach her peak. "I don't know what sort of history you have with that Idiot, but-"

"I'm sorry, Misaka-san." Misaki cut Mikoto off mid-sentence. "Please, come in first. I would rather do this before a horde of people come in. It is not a tourist attraction, after all."

"Why you..." Mikoto knew that Misaki was doing this to mock her. She did, making this choice even harder for her.

If she did as Misaki asked, and accused Misaki of something, she could reply with something along the lines of 'Oh, Misaka-san, how could you? Even after I invited you in out of consideration for your public image in mind' , or 'Misaka-san, your delusions and false accusations have no basis! How shameless of you! Even though we are both from the same prestigious school, you are act so...I am so hurt by this accusation! How will the school think?'

...Yeah, after thinking about this, Mikoto is getting more angry, especially since Misaki was speaking the truth.

"...Fine." Mikoto bowed her head slightly. "Sorry for intruding."

"Please, come in." Misaki did not allow a hint of emotion to show on her face as she opened the door wider, allowing Mikoto and Kuroko to pass through.

..

..

..

A few moments later, a small group of students swarmed the area that Mikoto and Kuroko had been in.

"Where is she?"

"Maybe in one of these rooms?"

"Are you sure they were here?"

"My ability was right! Don't it could not have been wrong! I am sure I saw her here earlier!"

"...Are you sure you saw her, and not her sister?"

"Eh? Misaka-san has a sister?"

"Eh?"

"...Huh? Was that not known? Misaka has a younger sister. Although they look similar enough to be twins."

"Hmm...Then, maybe I saw wrongly then."

"Alright, since you were wrong...let us go to her room again. Perhaps Shirai-san would know where Misaka-san has gone."

""Let's go!""

* * *

"...That was close." Mikoto breathed a sight of relief as she heard, as well as sensed, the group of around 15 students get further and further away from Misaki's room.

"My, my, Misaksa-san." A voice spoke up. "You seem to be inn quiet a bit of trouble there."

"Oh, be quiet Shokuhou." Mikoto snapped back. "In the first pla-" She promptly shut her mouth, cutting off her next words.

"Hmm?" Misaki gave a coy smile. "What were you about to say, Misaka-san?" Out of the corner of her eye, Mikoto could see Misaki's eyes twinkling(No pun intended.)

_Dang it! _Mikoto ground her teeth in frustration. _If circumstances were different, I would not have accepted Shokuhou's offer! But since nearly 90% of Tokiwadai is looking for me...Grr, if only I had proof that Shokuhou did this..._

_But still..._ Mikoto took a look around the room she was in. _Shokuhou's room is much more...tame, then I thought it was._

It was true, actually. If one thought of a level 5, they would think that they would spend a lot of their money to make their place as fancy as possible. Mikoto was one of the few who were out of that curve, seeing as she was one who worked hard for her powers, and having been one of the lower levels at one point in time, she would rather use her powers to save people, then to flaunt it. And, as such, she would save most of her money she got.

...Although she spent most of them on Gekota-themed products...

Anyway, Misaki's room was very simple, actually. There was a simple desk, and a large closet. The bed was also very simple too. Despite it being a canopy-type bed, its drapings were a simple, yet elegant, white lace with some gold accents. Which begged the question...

"Shokuhou," Mikoto began. "Where's your roommate?"

"Ah, her." Misaki gave a small smile. "I simply asked the dorm managers to sleep alone. There are quite a number of empty rooms, after all."

"So you used your powers to do so?" Mikoto shook her head. "Honestly, you-"

"How rude!" As if she had read her mind, Misaki huffed. "I simply just **persuaded them**. I did not abuse my powers at all, Misaka-san. Although," Misaki gave a wave of her hand. "enough about me. What brings you here, Misaka-san?"

"...I'm pretty sure you already know, Shokuhou." Mikoto crossed her arms. "After all, you **did **just hear those girls, earlier."

"Ah, but Misaka-san." Misaki gave a coy smile. "They did not give the reason for searching for you, did they?"

"..."

"..."

"..Fine," Mikoto sighed. "Tell me. Do you know who spread that picture of me? Or rather, was it you?" Mikoto said the last bit in a firmer tone.

"..."

"..."

"..."

A beat passed.

Then two.

The two girls (and pervert) looked at each other, neither backing down. Kuroko, sitting at the sidelines, looked between the two alternately at regular intervals as they had their stare-down.

Finally, Misaki sighed. "Unfortunately, I did not spread that picture of you, Misaka-san. Nor do I know who did so."

"And why should I believe you?"

"This concerns my Prince, after all." Misaki's eyes hardened ever so slightly. "Despite my...reservations, about** you** having a relationship with him, I can see that I should not intrude on a fellow maiden's love. I would never do anything that would put him at an inconvenience. And, this incident would certainly put him in a bind, to say the least. Honestly," Misaki huffed. "my Prince's trouble-attracting ability is as high as ever."

"...I have been meaning to ask, but..." Mikoto looked down, before she asked Misaki. "What is your relationship with Kamijou?"

Misaki frowned, although Mikoto could not see it, seeing as she was looking down.

* * *

_Is it okay? _Misaki pondered to herself. _Misaka-san would ask me this sooner or later. This is something that I know. I just did not expect her to ask right now._

Misaki knew that with her current actions(hanging around Touma often, excessive body contact), Mikoto would begin to think bad about Misaki.

That is, at first.

But, after a while, she would consider the possibility that her actions were not to irritate her, but rather, as her way of showing affection. Sure, there was the possibility that she was playing the long game, but, this new possibility would pop up, no matter what. And, that possibility was her showing her affection for Touma. Just like a certain person.

_I predicted Misaka-san would have asked me this in a couple of months, but to think that this event would push her asking me this forwards... _Misaki sighed heavily in her heart. _Well, now that it has come to this, how should I respond?_

On one hand, Misaki could just deflect the question, as she usually did whenever a question was too uncomfortable for her to answer, or if she felt that it was too personal. She would misdirect a person's actions by subtly influencing their mind to think of something else. And, if they focused on that new subject for a long enough period of time, they would momentarily forget their first objective.

This is a skill that was borne out of many, many interactions with the first person she could not use her abilities on before reaching a Level 5. Kamijou Touma

Through many interactions with the boy, she managed to gain an innate ability to subtly manipulate a person's thoughts via looking at a person's micro-expressions, behavioral analysis of said person, and their minute actions. So, she managed to get a new trump card to use in mental combat. One that did not need the use of her esper ability. That being said, she would still use her ability whenever she wished, as it was more convenient.

On the other hand, she could tell Mikoto about her past with Touma. It would be thought to be a lie, at first But, with some digging, and evidence she had lying about in her room, she would be able to prove that she was telling the truth.

These were the two options she had. They sounded simple enough, of course. But, that was not considering the potential consequences of her actions.

If she did the first option: Deflect the question, she would have to explain her relationship with Touma at a later date. And, who knows when she would corner Misaki? She could do it in the streets, somewhere secluded, or out in public? Granted, she could easily wipe the minds of those involved, but with Touma now semi-back in her life, that would be even harder for her to do.

Then, there was option two: Answer it honestly.

If she did so, there was the chance of her past with Touma being leaked out. It would be by accident, of course. She believed that Mikoto's friends were not that sort of people. But then, there would be numerous rumors about her her Prince, and Mikoto. She did not mind the rumors about Mikoto, but the ones about her, and more importantly, her Prince, were the ones she was more worried about.

See, she has the power to wipe minds. That in itself is very convenient when she wants to manipulate truths and facts. But then, what about rumors?

That is where she would quite a bit of difficulty. Rumors are neither truth, nor were they lies. Rumors are borne from the twisting of events or truths. So, something as simple as 'Person A dropped a pipe in the dead of the night. A person died the next day from old age', can become something as exaggerated as 'Beware the pipe dropper! When you are walking at night, and hear pipes being dropped, do not turn around to look! Otherwise, a person close to you will drop dead by morning!'.

...Yeah, so if they heard about Touma's past with Misaki, and him being Mikoto's boyfriend now, some unsavory rumors about him, Mikoto and Misaki can be brought to life.

Which leads to the question. To tell? Or not to tell?

* * *

"So, what is your connection to the idi-, I mean, Kamijou, Shokuhou-san?" Mikoto asked Misaki this again, this time, looking at the busty blonde in question.

She had felt worried at first when she asked the question, but after a bit, she realized that there was no need for her to be so worried. After all, it was not as if she had done something wrong! Not at all!

...But she still felt nervous. Who wouldn't be?

_What if Shokuhou has some sort of connection to that Idiot? _Mikoto felt like she had a hundred thoughts flowing into her mind at that moment. _What if that was why Shokuhou seems so intent on being so...petty, towards me? Because I unknowingly took her place as someone who was close to the Idiot. It would make quite a number of things make sense, especially the ones where she somehow always seems to be there whenever I see the Idiot. And if that was the case... _Mikoto's mind connected the dots. _Does this mean that..._

_...she loves him too?_

* * *

Misaki made up her mind.

"Alright, Misaka-san." Misaki's words cause both girls curently in the room to turn their attention towards her. "I'll answer your question."

"So? What is your answer?"

"Now, now," Misaki giggled, twirling her remote in hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see both girls eye the remote in her hand, Kuroko nervously, and Mikoto with apprehension.

***Pii***

With a sharp sound, the remote sounded. A quick look told Mikoto that Kuroko's eyes to have stars in them.

"...You won't say anything?"

"I expected that, actually." Mikoto sighed out. "After all, what you are about to say is very private. That is, IF you want to say it right now."

"I expected your anger at having your friends being controlled by me to have shot up though~"

"I am mad," A few sparks were let off from her hair and arms, indicating her current state of emotion. "But, I can understand if you want to keep this secret known to as few people as possible."

"Quite a good deduction you have there, Misaka-san!" Misaki cheerfully said as she dropped down onto the bed. Mikoto took her place opposite her, taking a seat at the desk instead. "I thought you were a person who did not use her brains much, but your deduction ability surprised me~"

More veins bulged out on her forehead. "Are you done?"

"Aww..." Misaki frowned. "I thought I would be able to get you to leave my room just now by making you lose your reasoning and rampage with your abilities for a bit, but it seems that you anger-holding ability is greater than I thought."

"Thanks." Mikoto humorlessly replied. "It is thanks to dealing with a certain former magic goddess."

* * *

Back in the small one-room apartment that was Touma's home, said one-eyed magic goddess gave a grunt.

"Othinus?" Index stopped her reading for a bit, peering over the edge of her magazine to look at the corner of the room, where a doll house rested. "What's wrong?"

"Someone seems to be talking about me behind mine back, nun." Came the disgruntled reply from the doll house. "I would have sneezed, but it seems my constitution turned it into a stab of pain instead."

"That's interesting." Index peered down from the edge of the bed, placing down the magazine she was reading. If one looked closely, they could see the faint words about improving ones...cleaning skills? "What did it feel like?"

"I felt the need to sneeze, but it turned from an itch into a sudden jolt of pain in...a particular area." Othinus explained, before she shouted. "Now, get this damned beast off of my front porch! At this rate, I would lose my lunch as well!"

* * *

"I see..." Misaki shrugged. "Well, I suppose I will tell you about the reason that I know my Prince."

"And another thing." Mikoto's eyes narrowed. "Why do you call Kamijou 'Prince'? "

"All in due time, Misaka-san." Misaki smiled. "Now, it started two years ago, along the banks of a river..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another location...

"Such Misfortune!"

"""Death to the Kami-yan Disease!"""

Touma was busy trying to escape his classmates(Coincidentally, all of them were male.) during break. As soon as the bell had rung, he had leapt out of his seat and dashed out of the door, his experience with espers and magicians giving him the slight edge needed to escape the classroom.

His cell phone rang in his pocket. Without spaing it a glance, he picked it up. "Hello?"

**"Ah, Kami-yan~"** A familiar voice sounded out from the phone. **"Why did you run out like that? Aogami and I were so surprised!"**

"You know as well as I do why!" Touma shouted into his phone, taking a left. "With all those death stares aimed at me, even the teachers did not teach as much as they would have on a regular day!"

**"And, how do you know that?"**

"Half the time, when a student was called out to answer a question, the students would direct their death stare at the teacher, causing them to get shivers up their spine!"

**"But, how do you know that?"** Tsumkiado's voice contained mirth in it as he spoke.

"Cause every time they got those shivers, they would jump, like, five feet into the air!"

Touma took another right, heading down the stairs.

..

What was this chaos that we had just stumbled into?

Well, this was because of the photo that had been released yesterday. Because a few classes were curious as to why there was a witch hunt the previous day(Their shouts, yells and death cries managed to frighten a passing by student into unconsciousness, with foam at the mouth. For reference, she was outside the school.), they decided to take a peak at some of the phones of their friends in the class.

Which resulted in them knowing about Touma getting a girlfriend.

This then led to the other classes discussing with Touma's class about Touma's new status. Which then led to some more...intense discussions. One conversation led to the next, and the next, and the next. One thing led to the next, and the next, and the next, until the flames of jealousy finally reached its peak, causing his classmates, who had finally calmed down, to become even more jealous then before, plus some extra boys and girls from other classes.

This witch hunt for the individual known as Kamijou Touma lasted until the end of class.

* * *

Timeskip, after school, 4pm

"Jeez," Touma rubbed the back of his neck. "Thank god that Fukiyose was there. She managed to stop them from coming after me for now. Although," He winced, touching his slightly bruised arm briefly. "Did she have to do a German Suplex on me to get them to stop?"

Touma was thankful that Fukiyose was there to help stop the mob that was after his blood. Truly, he was. And, it seemed that thanks to her, the 'Iron Wall girl', everyone managed to return to their senses. Although, he REALLY wished tht it had been less harmful on his body.

Granted, that only happened after he had stumbled into her chest, but what was he supposed to do? Allow the cat that had somehow managed to get into the class be stepped on by him? Even if he did that and just stepped on the tail for a split second, Index would bite his head off!

_I really wish Index would stop biting my head that hard. _Touma unconsciously brought his hand up to the back of his scalp. _If she did that any more, I would end up having to go to the hospital, no, STAY in the hospital, for irreparable brain and skull damage!_

Just as he was thinking of that, he suddenly bumped into something rather hard... and **soft.**

"Eh?"

"Ah!?" A familiar voice shouted out.

"Hmm?" Touma looked down, seeing a familiar lock of pink hair. "Sequenzia-san?"

"Ah, Kamijou." Shutaura brushed the lock of hair from her eyes. "How have you been?"

"You know, the usual misfortune." Touma sighed, before he looked back at the highly-trained operative across him. "How about you?"

"Things...are not that great right now." Shutaura admitted. "It's a bit of a long story, so-"

***Doon!***

The sharp sound of shattering glass and bricks being destroyed interrupted the two . A few students screamed as a large vehicle burst through a storefront, before it raced off, a trail of blood, bricks and shattered glass being left behind it.

"Black Crow unit!" Shutaura went to work immediately. "Do you have a visual?"

"-"

"Units 1 to 3, follow the vehicle. 6, you remain on standby. The rest of you, I need you here." Shutaura commanded through her comm, before she looked at Touma. "Sorry, can we catch up later?"

"Yeah." Touma nodded. "It looks like your hands are full. But, can I help? I have some experience in first aid. And, judging by the blood earlier, it would be safe to assume that there are people injured."

"...No." Shutaura's answer came swiftly and decisively. "Although the both of us know how good your first-aid is, seeing as you often get injured, you can't help right now. Not until we get a better understanding of the situation. But, if you can help, I'll be the first one to ask you for it."

"...Okay." Touma could understand why Shutaura did it. Technically, he was an ordinary school boy. A civilian. He had no place in a possible crime scene.

...Having said that, he just realized that that excuse about him being an 'ordinary, average schoolboy' was getting way too old, and become less and less true. After all, what sort of ordinary school boy has to settle incidents that have a clear impact on the world?

* * *

In a place not too far away from him, a certain boy sneezed.

"You okay?"

"...Yeah." The boy responded, sniffling a little. "Someone must be talking about me."

* * *

A few hours later...

***knock knock***

"Touma, Touma." Index turned to look at Touma, momentarily pausing in her eating of one one of his creations(cheese toast, with leftover batter coating ham and bacon) "Who is that?"

"Didn't I tell you, Index?" Touma placed down his pen, walking towards the door. "A friend is coming."

"Ah, come in Shutaura-san." Touma opened the door, allowing the girl into his apartment. "And...!?"

"Hi Touma-kun!" A **very **familiar pinkette waved her hand from behind the black haired beauty standing in-front of him. "It's been a while seeing me like this, right?"

"How?" Touma rubbed his eyes to confirm he was not hallucinating. _Yep, still there. _"Didn't the both of you combine into one person?"

""I'll explain this inside." Shutaura butted in. "People might find out that a retired idol is here after all. With your luck."

"Come on, don't make it out to be all of my fault." Touma groaned, but he stood to the side, allowing both girls to come in.

"Ah, Arisa!" Index ran over to the former idol in excitement. "How are you two separate people again?"

"I guess we forgot to tell you." Shutaura looked around the small apartment, before she sat down. "After the both of us fused, it was very confusing for the both of us. I had her consciousness in me, even though I was the one that came first. We managed to find a way to make it work, but in the beginning, it was very troublesome and embarrassing."

"It was, wasn't it." Arisa nodded sagely. "Everyone would look at you as if you had gone crazy at times."

"Don't make it look as if it was all my fault!" Shutaura blushed. "Besides, YOU were the one who kept asking me what the guns and mechs were, and how they worked, even though you had access to my memories!"

"Mou~" Arisa pouted. "We did not know that at that time, did we? Besides, it all worked out in the end, right?"

"For you, maybe." Shutaura grumbled. "I still get weird looks every now and then."

"Isn't that because of that lock of pink hair, and how you have kept the front of your bangs rather short, as compared to your usual long bangs?"

"..."

"So...how did you become...like this?" Touma gestured to them. "And, it seems that you two are two separate people, although you are actually one person."

"Well, Shutaura and I were having a small fight with each other." Arisa began explaining. "She wanted to wear her usual black skintight suit, while I wanted to wear something more comfy and cute."

"I still refuse to wear something with pink."

"Even though you have a dyed lock of pink hair at your fringe?"

"...it's to allow me to have a peace of mind..."

"Anyway," Arisa chirped, ignoring Shutaura's pout. "since we were both having a fight, the both of us wanted to separate from each other. And the result," she spread her arms. "we managed to separate into two people again!"

"So, how did your consciousness survive, Arisa-san?" Touma asked. It was actually something that had been on his mind ever since they had parted ways. Although he knew the true nature of Arisa being a part of Shutaura, he still had a nagging question at the back of his mind: Did Arisa and Shutaura fuse and become one, new person with both their memories and experiences? Did she remain as Shutaura, but with some of Arisa's personality traits and her memories? If so, what happened to the 'person' known as 'Arisa Meigo'? It was all a mystery for Touma. "I thought you would have been..."

"Killed? Lost?" Arisa giggled a little at Touma's expression. "I'm sorry, but it's not as morbid at that. When the both of us accepted that we were actually one person, a part of us intuitively knew that neither of us would be lost. Think of it as split personalities. Or, two souls in one body."

"...I can follow that, I guess?" Touma rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not too sure of the details that you just said, but I get the gist of it. And so, what about your acting with each other?"

"Oh, you mean how we are acting around each other, even though we are the same person?" Touma nodded his head. "Well, we think of each other as more of twins, or sisters, really. It is easier to think of each other as family, instead of thinking that we are the same person. If not, there is a high chance we would go crazy with identity crisis. 'Who are we? What is our names? Who is Shutaura Sequenzia and who is Arisa Meigo?'. These sorts of question did cross our mind at one point, but we are past that."

"That is really troublesome, then. Your day-to-day activities, I mean." Touma turned his attention back to the stove. "Oh, do you want anything to eat? I'm making some rice and eggs, with a side of asian curry."

"Oh, make some for the both of us." Shutaura told Touma. "Although I know that your cooking is fantastic thanks to Arisa's memories, it is not really the same as experiencing it yourself."

"Oh, my cooking is just average, Sequenzia-san." Touma told Shutaura as he started to mix the curry paste and coconut milk mixture. "It's not THAT good."

"We beg to differ, Touma." Shutaura smiled. "And please, call me Shutaura."

"Why? We aren't that close."

"I have Arisa's memories." Shutaura tapped her forehead, although Touma could not see it from his position. "So, I know everything that happened through her memories. Including **that time.** Speaking of, " Touma heard a sharp sound which sent a shiver up his spine.

Shutaura had drawn one of the many disks she kept on her person. "Next time you do something like that again to either of us, I **will **cut off that **part. Are we clear?**"

"YES MA'AM!" Touma involuntarily shuddered when he heard Shutaura's tone.(And, he spoke in clear English too, which is something he would be proud of, had he not been just threatened with castration.)

"Good." Shutaura slid her disk back into her bag. "We will tell you more about some things later, after dinner."

"I forgot that you came by to tell me about that thing." Touma went to work, dicing some onions, potatoes, and chicken before adding it into the small pot of curry, before he started to fry some omelettes. "So, after dinner?"

"After dinner." Shutaura confirmed. She watched her counterpart play with the calico cat(Sphynx had purred rather happily when he saw Arisa's face), before she added "Please hurry. The both of us have not eaten for the day."

"Yes, yes, this Kamijou-san will work faster."

Fast forwards to an hour later...

"My goodness..." Shutaura groaned. Or rather, moaned. "How is THIS the cooking of an 'average high school boy'? It's good enough to be served in high-class restaurants! And, what's more, it was made with bargain goods!"

"Right?" Arisa agreed. "And, this is not even my first time eating, yet I still act the same way every time I eat his food!"

"It's not THAT good, is it?" Touma asked, putting the past spoonful of rice into his mouth. "I mean, this taste's rather average for me. Right, Othinus?"

"..."

"W-why are you just looking at me like that? I-it's not as if I raised a death flag, right? Right?"

"Human, just shut up. You are making yourself look more like a fool." Othinus told the misfortunate boy, before she looked back at Arisa and Shutaura. "I must say, this is the first time I am seeing this type of case. A miracle taken form...although I knew of you when I recreated the world, I did not expect our paths to meet."

"It's the same for us." Shutaura said. "We did not expect to meet with the one who had become the first-ever world terrorist. You would make the history books for sure."

"I am already a part of history, girl." Othinnus scoffed. "Being known by my true name is a breath of fresh air actually. Since everyone has been regarding the names 'Odin' or 'Ollerus' as my name."

"Play nice, Othinus." Touma nudged the former magic god with his finger, before he turned to Shutaura. "So, about that incident earlier..."

"Ah, yes," Shutaura took a sip of water from her cup. "I did promise you that, didn't I."

"I need your help to protect someone. She goes by the name Akikawa Mie."

* * *

In a deserted part of Academy city...

"Ha...ha...ha..."

Heavy panting could be heard echoing in the small alleyway. A female figure was running through the dirty alleyway, a bag clutched in her hand.

_Got to get away! Got to hide! _The girl kept looking behind her, expecting the small group she had encountered a few days back to try and get her once more.

"Haa...haa..." She slipped into the back door of a building, quietly closing the door behind her. She glanced down at her bag. _I hope help comes soon..._

It had been an ordinary day for Mie a few days ago. In fact, if one had asked her what she thought she was going to do that day, she would have probably responded with the likes of "Get back home and have some ice cream after doing my homework." or "Chat with my friends after dinner.".

Never would she have thought that she would be hiding from killers and thieves in the coming days.

When she was on the way back home shopping with her friends, she only had thoughts of snoozing on the couch when she got back.

Then, a beat later, she found herself sprawled on the floor, bruises on her arms and legs. _...__Eh?_

After that, when she returned back, she would find that her father had taken the liquid diamonds her mother had been working on. Apparently, the vault he had been working on got shot through, crushed, and encased in a mixture of mud, concrete and asphalt. So, he had it stored in another vault, outside of Academy city.

Trouble came knocking that very same night.

Her parents ended up being severely injured, and had to be hospitalized.

Mie was entrusted with the data that her mother had for her liquid diamond project, as well as the digital blueprints for the many vaults her father had. All of that data was in the data pack she held in her bag right now.

* * *

"Akikawa Mie's father works as he vault builder and planner, while her mother is the head of a project that creates liquid diamond." Shutaura explained to Touma. "A few days back, her family was attacked by an unknown group for the knowledge on how to create the liquid diamond."

"Are they okay?" Touma asked worriedly.

"They are fine." Arisa assured Touma. Shutaura followed up after the pinkette. "And, it from the reports we got from the doctors, eyewitnesses, and the security footage we have, we are most probably dealing with a buoyancy manipulator, a hydro hand user, and most probably an aerohand user."

"...most probably?"

"Here, look at the footage." Shutaura pulled up a flash drive, attaching it to a tablet that Arisa took out. "Thanks Arisa."

"Just make it quick." Arisa stretched her arms. "Otherwise, I might actually stay here."

"Alright. Here." Touma took the tablet, his eyes already on the footage. Pointedly ignoring the last few words he had just heard.

At first, it showed an apartment room. There was a teenage girl, around his age, and a single man. _That must be Akikawa Mie and her father._ There was nothing out of the ordinary. It switched to outside. Same thing.

Then, his eye caught a silver of movement.

That was all the warning he got before the cameras were smashed by ball of liquid.

Heart racing, he quickly changed the video feed.

The door, made of reinforced carbon and wood, was smashed to bits as well. He could see some distinct patterns in the air, before the door burst against a wall, smashing into pieces. _So, that would be the traces from the aerohand user?_

**"St-stay away!"** In the footage, the man stood in-front of his daughter, shielding her from the intruders. **"W-what do you want?"**

**"Many things."** The voice that came through was distorted. _Maybe a voice modifier?_** "But, we desire data. Specifically, about the work your wife has been doing."**

**"O-okay..." **The man complied, walking out the room.

"I'll fast forward the footage." Shutaura leaned over to tap the video. "To sum it up, after this, Akikawa Mie's father downloaded the contents of both his vault plans and his wife's project data onto two data banks. But, Akikiawa Mie decided to get out of the area with the data. As for the father..." She tapped the screen, changing the video to another one. "You can see what we derived our suspicions from in this video."

**"Damn it!" "Your daughter is a crazy one. But, that is no matter. Ah, and as thanks for doing that."**

***Gr-ack***

**"Graaahhhhh!"**

Even though he could not see the action, his body and subconscious mind still remembered the action.

And the pain that came with the snapping of a bone.

These inhuman and painful sounds continued for a good five minutes, before it finally stopped.

Then, he saw it.

Three figures were pushing box-like items. But, instead of pushing them against the floor, they were-

"Are they...floating?"

"We suspect that the hydro hand user is floating the computer hard drive and laptops," Shutaura explained from the side as Touma watched the procession of items flow out of the door. "while the buoyancy manipulator is making the items light enough to float on water, and the aerohand user can use her ability to keep the water from entering inside."

"...but you don't think that this is the work of espers."

"Correct." Shutaura nodded. "We believe it is magic. And by we, I mean me and Arisa, since the Black Crow squad does not know about magic yet."

"Yet?"

"Never mind what I just said." Shutaura cleared her throat. "So, are you going to help us or not?"

"Is that a question?" Touma could not help but sigh. "If you tell me this much, if I do not help, then it would be a betrayal, wouldn't it?"

* * *

**AN**

**This ending feels like a mix between lukewarm and a cliffhanger. What is your take on this? Please review on what your take to this ending is. I really want to know.**

**Also, my next update is most likely not going to come out anytime soon. I am trying out a new format for my stories, so sorry! In the meantime, enjoy this chapter...I guess?**

**Anime is life, review, and comment! Stay safe out there!**


	18. Akikawa Mie

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

**_Italics Bold_** \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**" underlined bold "** \- Mental transmissions

Underlined \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Akikawa Mie**

"So...why are we here?"

"Waiting for Akikawa-san to show up." Shutaura dropped a few cubes of sugar into her cup of tea, before she took a sip out of it. "The cameras in the vicinity last caught her entering an abandoned warehouse. Right now, members of the Black Crow unit are staking out at locations the girl is most likely to appear from."

It was the next day. Thankfully, it was the weekend, so Touma did not have to worry about missing yet another school day. His poor record could not take another hit, helping save the world from total annihilation or not.

"Erm, can I see the locations?" Touma sat up a bit straighter. "I want to actively help instead of just following around you."

"...Normally, I would say no. But," Shutaura sighed. "Since it is you, I'll make an exception." A beat. "I just sent you the map."

"Thanks Shutaura." Touma took a look.

"..."

"..."

"...?" Touma's eyes noticed something. "...so, did Akikawa-san enter from this circle on the map?"

"-? Ah, yes." Shutaura nodded, a little confused. "Did you notice something?"

"Maybe." Touma's mind was keeping itself into overdrive. "Akikawa-san is running from her pursuers for nearly two full days now. She would not risk to stopping in some place open. Not since that van smashed through that building yesterday. I assume she had appeared to get some food and water?"

"...yeah..."

"Then, Akikawa-san would try to remain hidden, since she can no longer count on being out in the open, among the crowd. And, since she is being tracked by magic, and that she does not know how they are tracking her, it can be assumed she would try to keep moving in an attempt to lose her pursuers. So..."

* * *

"Kyah!?"

Akikawa Mie screamed in shock, her pupils dilating in fear.

**"Hello, Akikawa Mie."** The horrible distorted voice that she had heard back in her apartment was grating against her ears, making goosebumps appear on her arms. Her legs were trembling in fear. **"You have something of mine."**

"N-no!" Despite her trembling body, her voice came out strong. "T-these things are not yours! They belong to my parents."

**"Ah, but they DO belong to me." **The chilling voice gave a chuckle, making Mie's skin crawl due to its repulsive sound. **"In exchange for your life, your father's and your mother's, we would take the data."**

"E-even so! I-i won't let you take my parents hard work!"

**"Your parents are not the only one that we are targeting. But, that is not what we are talking about." **The voice somehow gave off a bored tone. **"Men, take it by force. I would rather save my strength for what is to come."**

"""Yes Sir!""" A dozen men suddenly appeared along with the shout, immensely surprising Mie. _When did they-_

"Little lady, give them up. We promise not to hurt you...much..."

"Oi oi, you are a sicko, you know that?"

"What? I meant by breaking her legs. What did you think I was talking about? You lolicon."

"...It ain't being a lolicon if we are the same age, right?"

"Oh my god, are you dense? We are supposed to keep our ages a secret!"

"...sorry..."

Most of this conversation was filtered out of Mie's head. Not that it would have given her any sort of hope or such from the current situation she was in.

Being surrounded by males. Outnumbered, 12 to 1. And-

"...gyaaaaaaaaah!" Suddenly, a figure blew past her face, and dust blew up into the air.

-Spiky-haired guys falling from the sky!?

Mie(and the guys around her) blinked in surprise at the sight of the male who had just fallen from the sky. He had, unfortunately, fallen flat on his face, so Mie was sure he had suffered a concussion, or at the very least, knocked out.

Upon closer inspection, she realised that the male was wearing a very familiar jacket. ..._Where have I seen him from?_

"Geez..." Another person, this time female, dropped down from above. This time however, she landed on her feet. unlike the male below her. "Your luck is horrid as always."

"Erm...is he-"

"...Not my fault that my luck hates me"

"YEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!" Mie's shrill scream pierced the area, causing many of the individuals present to cover their ears in a panic.

**"Damn."** The distorted voice tsked. **"That wold definitely attract attention. Men, hurry up and deal with them."**

* * *

_Thank goodness we arrived on time._

Shutaura gave a brief look around her surroundings. She quickly noted down the enemies, as well as their current positions. _A dozen people, plus one at the back...Even if Akikawa Mie had been an esper, she would have been unable to last...thank goodness we were quick._

_.._

After Touma had pointed out the locations that Mie would have most likely taken(from his experiences, as well as his dealings with people who panic a lot.), Shutaura quickly re-positioned the entire Black Crow unit to the respective areas.

The results quickly came in.

**"Squad leader, this is Crow 5 and 4. We have found the target."** A voice transmission entered her ears, not even a few minutes after she had told everyone to move.

"What is your position?" Shutaura stood up, placing some money at the counter to pay for their drinks.

**"We are at location C. I just spotted the target dashing out of an alleyway, while Crow 4 tracked her into a different one. There is also assumed to be hostiles approaching her location. There are espers in the group. One of them in particular seems to have the ability to manipulate kinetic forces."**

"Keep a look out for more potential hostiles." Shutaura ordered as she and Touma dashed to the location. _It would take around...10 minutes if we go by the walkways. But..._

"Me and the IB are going to approach by the roof." Shutaura spoke into the communicator, ignoring Touma who was behind her. "Do not make contact unless the target is about to be taken away. The rest of the unit, co-operate with Anti-skill to keep the civilians out of this, and to detain any prisoners we might get from this confrontation. Keep us updated Crow 5."

**"Roger!"**

"Erm...Shutaura-san, what did you just say just now?" When she turned to look behind her, she could see Touma's head beaded with sweat.

"We are going to climb to a roof, a cut across to their current location." Shutuara answered absentmindedly, making sure no one was around before she dragged the unfortunate Kamijou into a nearby alleyway, taking out a grappling hook as she did so.

"Never mind...just leave me behind..." Touma tried to back away from the girl beside her. "I'll just...run there- EEK!" Touma was stopped by a hand that had shot at his direction.

"This is faster. And less energy consuming compared to your usual activities, no?"

"That is not the problem here!"

..

_Kamijou's misfortune is as bad as ever._ Shutuara took a quick peek at the boy below her. Already, he was moving slightly. _Well, no sane person would have thought there was a banana peel on a roof, nor would they have assumed to slip forwards instead of backwards, like the usual trope. I mean, __I know it was amusing to see Kamijou's misfortune from Arisa's memories, but it is another thing to see it in person._

"You okay?" Shutuara called down to the boy who had the misfortune of face-planting into the hard ground below, face first.

"Ow..." The boy groaned. "Somehow...I think my nose is fine, too."

"Your nose can come later." Shutuara bent down, hand slipping into her boots. "They are starting to pick themselves up."

* * *

As Shutuara said, the enemy group was finally regaining their senses. The one at the back was first to react to their arrival.

**"This is...men, stop those two quickly!"**

"YES BOSS!" The first few were quick to act. But the duo before them were faster.

***clink***

"What is-"

***Doon!***

The two boys in front of her, a pyrokinesis and hydro hand user receptively, were blinded by the resulting blast that had come from the tiny, unassuming disk she had thrown at them, before they were taken down quickly by her martial arts.

"You-" An enraged enemy attempted to use his ability, but was unable to do so. He had been knocked out by Touma's right hook.

"When did you-" Surprised by this turn of events, the once dozen, now nine, enemies were slow to react to the sudden attack, but they were quickly regaining their bearing. "Take this!"

"Hah!" In response, Shutaura threw several more disks at the crowd, before the were stopped in mid-air.

"Bet you did not expect that, did you? You-" What ever the guy was about to say was quickly lost by the sudden explosions.

The disks had all exploded simultaneously.

"Kah, kah, you bitc-" The source of the telekinesis, a young boy, coughed and tried to strike back at the black elite, before a new face suddenly appeared in his vision. "What in the-"

The telekinesis he had used to restrain the new face that had popped out disappeared with a sharp sound.

"Wha-"

"That won't work!" Touma shouted out, using the surprise the boy felt to his advantage, punching the daylight out of him with his signature hook.

More enemies, now revealed to be espers, attempted to surround him, but they were quickly dealt with.

..

..

"Any more?" Touma looked over at the last individual. He was the one who had remained cloaked the entire time.

**"This is such a troublesome situation." **The cloaked figure gave out a distorted sigh. **"It is a pain to do work, but I shall have to oblige for you two." **His robe parted, revealing...

...a shield.

"...what?" Touma was surprised by the appearance of a very familiar defensive weapon. "Percival's shi-" Touma quickly cut himself off, his instincts screaming at him.

The figure had dashed forwards with incredible speed, cracking the ground below him as he sped towards Touma. He swung out his shield, parallel to the ground, instead of bashing them.

***Doon!***

With a dull sound, the shield smashed into the wall, cleaving a large crack into it. Had Touma not dodged when he had, he would have become a piece of art against the wall.

**"How strange." **The robed figure tilted its head. **"I could have sworn I tore of your head."**

_Tore?! _Touma thought in shock. His eyes were on the area where the shield had smashed into. _You swung that thing at me, and its edge gouged out a large slice in the wall! In fact, aren't you tugging it out of the wall?__ My head won't be torn, it would be cut clean off!_

"Hah!" Shutaura threw some disks in his direction.

**"Kah!**" The robed figure grunted, Shutuara's disks having exploded directly in front of his face. Smoke hung in the air, covering the robed figure's body momentarily. _Is he down?_

**"That surprised me..." **Unsurprisingly, the shielded hand swung through the air, dispersing the smoke. _Of course, my misfortune would not allow me to take a break._

**"You know, I wished to finish this quickly and without drawing attention to myself, but it seems that this would be near impossible now." **Glints of metal showed in the areas that had been damaged by Shutaura's explosion. **"Tch. I would need to get a new mantle after this, it seems." **Saying that, the robed figure tore off the damaged and singed cloak. Revealing-

-A shiny, metallic body.

At first, Touma thought it was metal armour, similar to the ones he had seen from the Roman Catholic church when he had 'first met' Stiyl. But, as his eyes trailed upwards, he realised that was not the case at all.

From the hips down, the legs were covered by a pair of long pants, making it indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person's. But, that was where the similarities ended.

His head was similar to that of a human's, but it had multiple lenses instead of two eyes. His torso was a metal frame, with a constantly rotating cylinder in the middle. His right arm, which held the shield, was shown to be a little thicker than an average man's arm. The sides of the shield also glinted a little sinisterly to Touma, no longer was it covered by the dark mantle. His left arm was a little flatter and bigger than the average man's. It was also the same one that had reached out and torn off the mantle. Touma managed to glimpse a flat screen embedded in that left arm. _Most likely, that would be a display, right? Or rather-_

"-Why did I tempt fate!? SUCH MISFORTUNE!" Touma screamed into the air. "I thought that it would be easy to deal with you if you were human, but you were a robot this entire time! What's next, aliens in tiny spaceships coming into my life, or mystical beasts being taken into my home?" Now that the mantle was off, the distorted, horrible voice made sense to those present.

**"Kamijou Touma, I presume." **The android chose to ignore the screams of Touma, instead heading straight down to business, so to speak. **"This saves me a bit of trouble. I was wondering when we would meet."**

"...You know me?"

**"Those who are in my line of business can NOT afford to not know who you are, Kamijou Touma. I may look like this, but I am an A.I. with the personality of a person that had died many years ago."**

"Sounds like something Academy City cooked up..." This time, it was Shutaura who spoke.

**"? Who are you?" **The robot, nay, the cyborg tilted its head.

"...There is no need to tell people my name unnecessarily. Especially if it is against enemies."

**"Such a cold answer. But, it is acceptable." **The cyborg titled its head, before it looked at the trio again. **"Such a shame our time together is coming to an end so soon. But no matter. Legion would get what it desires. This Dom ensures it." **With those words, the cyborg released a few smoke pellets, causing his form to be shrouded in smoke. When the smoke cleared, the cyborg was nowhere to be seen.

""?!"" Both Shutaura and Touma were surprised by the now identified Dom's disappearance.

"What happened?"

"It most likely used some form of cloaking technology." Shutaura fingered her gun, before she relaxed. "If that were the case, then Academy city's hands are most likely all over this incident. Optical camouflage is something that is not readily available on the market, and even if it were, the best a country could do would cloak a large vehicle, and even then it would be the size of a tank."

"So, Academy city is most likely in on this kidnapping." Touma sighed. "Such Misfortune."

* * *

Some time later,

"Ergh..." Akikawa Mie groaned out, eyelids fluttering, before vision was gradually restored. "...where am I?"

"Safe." The sudden answer caused the young girl to jump. She looked around her, taking in her surroundings.

Right now, she was on a comfortable bed. The room's decor and furnishings made it look like she was in a fancy hotel room somewhere.

"Sorry if I surprised you." An unfamiliar girl entered her vision. Mie realised she had been the one who had answered her earlier. "I work better from the shadows, but circumstances have dictated we stick close to you, Akikawa Mie."

"...who are you?"

"Someone who is here to protect your well-being." Mie took the time to pay more attention to the girl and her surroundings. The girl standing before her was rather tall, with straight, black hair. She wore a skin-tight suit lined with red and varying shades of grey, with thicker looking areas located at her arms, legs, joints, shoulders and chest area. There was a small pouch on her waist. A lock of pink hair was also hanging from the left side of her face. Surprisingly, it looked good on her. "You can call me Sequenzia."

"Sequenzia-san..." Any other words she would have said were lost when her stomach growled rather loudly, eliciting a faint blush to form on her face.

"You must be hungry." A tiny upturn of her lips was the only indication that 'Sequenzia' smiled. "My friend is cooking some food for us."

"I hope its good."

"It will be."

..

..

The door was shut moments later.

"How is she?" Touma asked. In his hands was a bowl of the food he had just served to Mie. The smell of the food that had been cooked wafted in the air, making Shutaura salivate a little.

"She's fine. For now." Shutaura sighed, briefly thanking Touma for the bowl before she dug in. "Akikawa-san's mind is currently focused on the food you just made. Give her some time alone, and her psyche will be composed enough for her to start asking questions. Especially on our arrival."

"...why?"

"I'll explain later." Shutaura hurriedly finished up the small, yet filling, bowl of rice and chicken with some simple egg omelette, before she placed it down in the sink. "For now, we are going to interrogate that kid we just got."

"Interrogate..." Shutaura saw Touma shiver a little at the word.

"It won't be bloody or messy." Shutaura assured the boy. "My men are taking turns to keep watch on him, and one of them should have just recently injected him with some sodium thiopental. We would be able to question him by the time we get there."

"sodium...thiopental?" Despite it being a word he was not familiar with, e had little trouble allowing it to roll of his tongue.

"You would call it a truth serum, I suppose." Shutaura opened the door, allowing Touma to exit.

The building they were currently in was one of the many buildings that the rich and high-class would use. In fact, this was a place that Touma was very familiar with, having visited it three times in the past half a year.

The Dianoid.

It was the famous building made entirely of carbon, and being supported by an anti-gravity machine. The building itself was a combination of apartment rooms, and a mall with a bank. And, as such, there would be tight security, meaning it was a great place for someone to hide out, and be protected from an enemy until they are able to move to another safe location. The room that Touma and Shutaura just exited was a custom room that was actually three rooms connected to one another, with only one way in or out. This makes it the best place to protect an individual such as Akikawa Mie, who was just a young girl.

"Ma'am!" One of the B.C unit members, having noticed Shutaura's arrival, saluted her.

"Give me a sit. report."

"Straight to the point as always, eh boss?" The man smirked. "Well, the young'un was pretty calm for the most part. He did not even touch the food or water we gave him. Nothing changed until we injected him with the sodium thiopental. THAT was when things went nuts."

"...how bad?"

"The entire room started to become freezin cold, even though the air conditioner was off. Plus, whenever someone enter, he would just pounce on the guy and try to gouge out their eyeballs. 4 and 8 were especially badly hurt. As for the women..." He looked visibly uncomfortable as he said it. "...he tried to cut off their breasts and hands."

"...,...,...,..." Touma felt Shutaura's aura change. "...What did he try to do?"

"...rip off their chest and hands, Ma'am!" The soldier's back stiffened, cold sweat dripping down his face. Apparently, he had never seen his commander like that. "With some of the plastic spoons we got for him to eat the food, Ma'am! We managed to stop him by throwing in some teargas, but the ladies has severe lacerations on their arms and cuts on their chest."

"...,...,...,..." Wordlessly, she moved down the hall, straight to the room where the captured esper was.

Touma moved to follow her as well, but he found his way blocked by an arm. "?"

"Hey kid." The man bent down slightly, looking Touma directly in the eyes. "Keep an eye on the boss, would you? She treats all of us like family, and since some of us got badly hurt..."

"Why ask me this?"

"The boss seems to be fond of you. Plus, she seems to be calmer, happier, when she is with you."

"...got it." Touma nodded. The man smiled, before he pushed Touma forwards.

Stumbling a little, Touma managed to regain his balance and catch up to Shutaura.

"...what did he say?" Shutaura, to her credit, had a very calm face on.

"He just told me to tell you to keep you calm? I guess?" Honestly, Touma was bad at these sort of things. Even though he had a girlfriend.

"I see..." Shutuara nodded, her expression not changing in the slightest. "Well, I will restrain myself then. As much as I can."

_Ah, Shutaura-san, your knuckles are white. I can see the whites. Please, calm down. _Touma's thoughts went something like this when he saw how not-calm Shutaura was. It was also to be noted that these sort of words were spoken in a dry tone.

"Ma'am, please be careful." The soldier who was guarding the door also spoke in a somewhat placating tone.

"...I am calm." Shutaura took a few deep breaths, before she steeled her nerves. So that she would NOT kill the kid the moment she entered the room. "I'll start the interrogation now."

* * *

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Crazed laughter was the first thing the two heard when they entered the room. It went on for half a minute longer, until he noticed the presence of the two arrivals. "So, another one comes, eh?"

"This time, not alone." Shutaua spoke in a dry tone.

"I can see that." The boy finally stopped his insane laughter, choosing to chuckle instead. "Oh, this is precious. You think that would be enough to stop me ...**from doing this**?"

***Cra-ck***

A bright purple light surrounded Shutaura and Touma. Touma felt a slight resistance around his body, but then his negation kicked in, dispelling the light with a clear sound of glass being destroyed. Nudging his hand a little, his fingers brushed against Shutaura's clothes, allowing for the light surrounding her to be dispelled as well.

"Oh-ho...oh-ho...oh-ho!" The boy's eyes widened when he saw the light disappear from the two in front of him. "You must be the one they call Imagine Breaker then? Such a shame, such a shame, I wanted to meet you in a different sort of setting. Preferably, in a warehouse, filled with the parts of my victims. Kah kah kah kah kah!"

"Your disgusting." Indeed, this was a first time for Touma. Whenever he met someone from the magic side, they would be doing all sorts of things. Plotting the mass murder of the world just to bring about peace. The calling of an angel to bring about the deaths of their enemies. Sacrificing people, more often than not young ladies, just to preserve the status quo or for more power. Even the trampling down of the dignity of a person just to ensure that there would be no more incidents that would happen unnecessarily(in their eyes.). That last one would be a justifiable action.(In their eyes.) For the greater good, they would say.

Out of these times, he would feel a whole range of emotions. Anger, pain, worry, rage, shock, even protectiveness. But, this s the first time he can even remember feeling so disgusted...so repulsed, by someone who was considered a human being._ Actually, could he even classify the person in front of him a human?_

"Body parts?" Shutaura leaned a little closer to the person they had just captured less than a few hours ago. "I take it then, that you have killed before? Murdered and butchered the dead?"

"Sure, let's call my art that distasteful word." The person before them chirped, before he frowned. "...You aren't shivering."

"Should I?" Shutuara said in a humourless tone. "I am not afraid of you, nor am I worried about you...I heard that this room suddenly felt very cold. Perhaps...you can not use telekinesis, like we originally assumed, but instead, you cam control liquid?" Touma's hand was touching Shutaurars side, preventing the clearly unnatural cold from getting to her. If it were the manipulation of liquids, then it would make sense for why the room was so cold. _But, that does not explain how he is able to control some liquids, but not others. If he wanted, he should be able to get out of here rather easily...perhaps, a certain range or limitation?_

The boy stiffened. "I'll take that as a confirmation on your ability then." Shutaura leaned back. "So, why this kidnapping of the girl? What's the purpose?"

"...,...,...,..."

"Who do you work for? Or rather, how did you get your ability?"

"...,...,...,..." The boy just smiled, his eyes giving off a cold gaze.

"...Fine then." Shutuara took out some wires. "Let me change the question. Why did you try to mutilate my unit?"

"...,...,...,..."

"Perhaps...it was for magic?" The boy's eyes widened by a small fraction. Shutaura saw the opportunity presenting itself. So, she took it. "SO, you DO know about the other side. Perhaps, this is no esper ability, but rather, the manipulation of certain liquids from rituals?"

"...,...,...,..."

"If that were the case," Shutuara pretended to hum. "then, all I need to do is destroy you hands, or whatever you are using as a medium to make this supernatural phenomenon stop and inaccessible to you."

"...urse you..." An almost inaudible sound could be heard.

"Sorry?"

"Curse you, you bitch!" The boy spat out, spit flying form his mouth as he screamed. He lunged across the table, the handcuffs attached to his feet preventing him from getting far. It scared Touma, who jumped out of his seat, by Shutaura remained unfazed, instead looking indifferent to the entire thing as the boy screamed.

"You think you are SOOOOOOO smart, deducing where my abilities come from? What a sorry excuse for a female specimen like you." The boy grinned manically. "MEN are the ones who get all the shit done! Female specimen should just stay obedient like the bitches they are! They should just grin and bear it when they are used as nothing more than something that should be used to repopulate our species! Hell, they should be thankful they even get to move about and do things of their own fee will! Men are ALWAYS the top dog! You hear me, you sow!"

"...so, you are a misogynist..." Shutuara continued to remain unfazed by the screaming of the boy. "That somewhat explains the reason for your behaviour against women and men."

"Try to reason with me however you want." The boy spat out. "I won't tattle. Never!"

"Did not expect you to do so in the first place."

"...what?"

"Oh please, if we could actually obtain information that easily from captured prisoners, there won't be a need for something called torture, you know?" Shutaura's eyes glinted menacingly. "I have quite a number of torture routines that I want to try out on you particularly...but that would serve no purpose, seeing as I can tell that you are someone who would never spill information, especially to a woman."

"Got that right..." The boy's smirk remained on his face.

"Instead, I shall just give my deductions." Shutaura interlocked her fingers, making her a little more menacing to the boy seated in front of her. "We know that you have an ability to control certain fluids. Whether it is a magic or scientific ability, or there is a limit to how much you can control within a time limit, or even if there are some restriction, does not matter that much right now. Since we have the ultimate weapon against such abilities called Imagine Breaker. Even if you came from Academy city, some magic sect, or an unknown place like Baggage City, the source of your power is rather helpless against Imagine Breaker, no?"

"You most likely were recruited for your ability," Shutauta continued. "seeing as you have already admitted to the killings and mutilations of numerous people already. And, most likely, you are slightly stronger than your other peers in the organisation known as Legion. Well, that is compared to the other grunts. Your manner of speech and actions also suggest you are very confident in your abilities, like you have not known defeat. If I were to give a rough estimate...most likely you have won 9 out of every ten fights. And, that is including those significantly stronger than you, no? "

"And as for the way you fight...thanks to your earlier actions, I have a solid grasp of how you do so. When in a team, you work to immobilise a target, so that others can help deal the finishing blow to you. That puts you near the middle or end of the attacking group. And as for when you fight alone, you would also immobilise your target, but also manipulate the temperature around them to dull their senses suddenly, and deal a killing blow while they are disoriented and unable to act. Of course, this works best against a single person, or a group of no more than three. Any more, and you would be severely beaten."

With every word, the smirk on the boy's face became strained, slowly disappearing and turning into a down turned frown. His facial features shifted from proud and arrogant, to shock, fear and anger. _Well, the shock and fear is most likely due to how Shutaura-san is correctly guessing his way of fighting and_ actions. Touma reasoned in his mind._ The anger...would most likely have to deal with what Shutaura-san said just now. Not sure on what it meant though. _

"...very nice for guessing. But that did not change my mind or anything." The boy murmured once Shutaura was done speaking.

"Not that it matters." Shutuara stood up, prompting Touma to do the same, lest she start to get affected by the cold. He briefly checked his phone during Shutaura's 'interrogation', and the temperature shocked him. (Minus 5 degrees. That was what his phone read.) "Best stay comfy. You would not be able to sit in such a nice chair where you are going."

"You think confining me is going to the worst thing that I fear?" The boy gave a malicious grin, jumping at Shutuara as he spoke. The leg clamps prevented him from smashing into her, but the loud clanking did give Touma a small shock. "In your dreams, you sow."

The hair on Touma's hair stood up when he saw the glint in the boy's eyes. Now that he was close up, he could 'read' the emotions that were coursing through his mind. Multiple emotions were running through his eyes.

But the most prominent ones were fear, amusement, and rage.

Alarm bells rang in his mind. "Shutaura-san, watch ou-"

**"For the everlasting Legion's reign!"**

The world turned red.

* * *

..

..

..

Darkness. That was what Touma was only able to see. No matter where he turned his head, he could only see black. But, when he raised his head, he saw something shine.

_A light? _ Touma felt like he was drifting about. Very similar to being submerged in water. But, the first thing he could see was a bright light, somehow distorted. _Where am I? _He tried to move his head, only to find he could not do so. _What?_

Suddenly, the light shined brighter, forcing Touma to attempt to raise his hand, only to find that it was all stuck to his body, like leaden weights were attached to them. The light got brighter and brighter, making Touma feel like his very core was being burnt by the light, when-

-his eyes shot open, revealing a white ceiling.

"Ugh..." Touma's mind felt very fuzzy. _What...happened...? _He could vaguely feel that his body was lying against a soft bed.

"You awake?" A very familiar weak voice prompted Touma to turn to his side. There, his eyes met those of a girl with a lock of pink hair across from him.

"Shutaura-san..." Touma's head felt like it was splitting open, and his throat felt like it was on fire, but he managed to force the words out. "Are you okay?"

"No worse for wear." She grunted, sitting upright on her own bed. Her black locks fell onto the bed sheets, showing bandages wrapping around her head. "How about you?"

"My head feels like it was just bitten by 10 Index's starving." Touma groaned, trying to sit up, only to feel spikes of pain shoot up his right arm. _What is..._

Curious, he pulled back the covers.

"Eh?" Touma blinked. Rubbed his eyes. Then, blinked again. "...I'm not dreaming...right?"

"Nope." A male's voice answered his question. Looking up, Touma saw a thick-set man sitting on a chair near the door. "Looks like you are awake, IB."

"IB?"

"Don't tell me that lunatic knocked your brains outa ya!" The man scowled a bit. "Your name is IB, no? I mean, that was what leader called you."

"What happened?" Shutuara cut off the man before Touma could say anything.

"That brat blew himself up." The man growled. "Said something before he did so. Did you hear what he said, boss?"

"...how big was the blast?"

"Enough to take down a reinforced pillar." The man frowned. "Boss, are you sure you are-"

"We're fine." Shutuara raised a hand. "More importantly, how is the asset?"

"...She is sleeping. After eating, she laid down to nap. Hasn't woken up since."

"...how long were we out?"

"4 hours." Came the immediate reply.

"Thank you." Shutuara nodded. "We will rest for 10 more minutes before we leave. There is a chance the death of one of their subordinates has exposed our position."

"Yes Ma'am!" The man saluted before he left, leaving Shutaura and Touma alone.

"...they turned a young kid into a bomb..." Touma clenched his fists tightly, finally able to say wanted had first came into his ind when he head the news. He had been momentarily stunned into silence by the revelation the kid had became a living bomb, but now, all the rage was flowing into his mind. "Legion is inhumane!"

"That may be so." Shutuaura leapt off the bed rather energetically, as if the head injury she had sustained was a lie. "But, the mission right now is to keep Akikawa Mie safe. If we to focus our attention on this organisation, there is a possibility we would fail to protect her."

"But-!"

"There is no room for emotions in this sort of missions, Kamijou!" Shutuara walked briskly, coming face-to-face with the still barely sitting boy. Bringing her hand forwards, she clasped them on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Right now, we are dealing with an organisation that has come from an unknown background, with abilities from unknown sources, and my unit is going into this almost completely blind as well due to this lack of information. Trained agents we may be, but if we misunderstand or underestimate the abilities of our opponent, which we are doing right now, **we will not be able to protect Akikawa-san. **That should be abundantly clear to you now, right?"

Touma stared into Shutaura's eyes. "...yeah..."

"Good." She visibly relaxed, the tension draining from her shoulders. "Grab a change of clothes. We have to be ready in five. And keep your perverted misfortune to yourself, got it?"

"Its not my fault my misfortune lands me in rather perverted states especially with the opposite sex!" Touma complained, but there was no heat in it. It was just the usual complaints for him.

* * *

The time they took to change was very quick, so Touma decided to ask Shutuara something before they left.

"Shutaura-san," He began. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Make it quick." Shutuara slipped on a new bodysuit(the previous one was covered in blood and gore.). Thankfully, when they were out, the members on standby cleaned them up as best as they could, so they did not have to deal with half-dried, sticky blood. Nor he nauseating bits of guts and brain matter that was sure to have been splattered onto their bodies.

"Why is everyone calling me IB?" Her hands stopped.

"...Let's just say...it is for your own protection."

"Please elaborate." Touma deadpanned. "I live with a nun who is one of the most sought after person in the world because of the 103,000 grimories in her head, and I live with an ex-Magic god that is thought to be dead to the world, who was also coincidentally the one person that was, for the first time in history, the first WORLD terrorist. Both of whom, should they be discovered, will be immediately deported from Academy city, and I will be locked up, and most probably sentenced to life imprisonment, should any government beside the British, American, Russian, or the Pope find out that Othinus is living with me. And that is not counting the fact that magicians and such keep coming after me or Index every few days. So please, do tell me why it is for my own protection."

"Ah." Shutaura sweatdropped at the rather long list Touma had just given to her. "...I can see why you would ask now...Fine." She sighed. "It's protection against any person that we encounter that works for the Board of Directors. Especially the ones that work in the shadows, and my unit."

"...I can somewhat understand the protection from the other people working with the Board, but why your Unit? You know, since you control it and all, I thought-"

"It's not that simple." Shutaura glared at Touma. "Let me explain it to you clearly. I am calling you IB as it is your codename. Like how everyone in my unit uses codenames, like Crow1, or Feather or talon. It's to protect their identities in their everyday lives. We have our faces protected by a piece of equipment that scrambles our faces, so that if one tries to recall what we looked like, or catch us on surveillance, they would only see a censored face. You are also protected by that equipment, by the way."

"So, if enemies hear your codename, they would be unable to act against you in the day, as they do not know who they should be looking for. But, as for my team..." Shuaura pinched the bridge of her nose. "...its more of a way to prevent them from giving you a surprise visit."

"..."

"D-don't give me that 'Ah, so what's with this development?' look!" Shutuara blushed. _Ah, it looks like she still has the memories of when Arisa-san watched some anime episodes with Index and got hooked. _"They are rather protective of me, like I am of them. While I see them as family, like brothers and sisters, they see me as a little sister or daughter."

"...So you are saying that if my name is found out, they might-, no WILL use the system they have access to to look for where I live, and make sure that I do not make you unhappy, just because they are acting like an over-protective parent or older sibling?"

"...you got that right...and don't forget that they have the skill to kill you, dispose of your body, and make it seem like you had left from a really believable reason."

Predictably, Touma knew that this was the sort of development he would have landed himself into.

"Such Misfortune."

* * *

"Wake up..." a voice entered Akikawa Mie's voice, but she paid it no heed, instead opting to roll over. _Go away mom..._

"I'm not your mother, but if you won't wake up..." The voice came clearer now. "Do it." _Hmm? That does not sound like what Mom usually sa-_

***Cra~sh!***

"Cold!" Mie's head shot out of bed like it was fired from a canon, water dripping from her face and hair.

"Good, your awake." Sequenzia placed down the glass she was holding. Mie put two and two together. "You threw ice cold water at me!"

"Be thankful it is not filled with ice." A male's voice entered her ear. Wiping the water from her eyes, she noticed the a male figure standing by her bed. His spiky hair dripped water onto the carpeted floor. "I tried to take a quick nap, but she threw some cold water with ice at me."

"I'm sorry about that." Sequenzia did not face the male. "I thought I grabbed the one that you had been drinking."

"Don't worry about it." The male sighed. "My misfortune acts up all the time, so you are not to blame. If anything, its my right hand."

_Hand? _ "Who are you?" Mie asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"This is my friend IB." Sequenzia introduced the male to her, who raised his hand in greeting. "For certain reason's, I will be calling him IB instead of his real name."

"Is your name a codename? Or is it your real one?" The words popped out of Mie's lips before she could even stop herself.

Sequenzia gave a thin smile. "It's...complicated, I suppose. But, I have been called Sequenzia half of my life, so it is fine to call me by that name."

_Half her life?_ Mie titled her head in confusion, but she decided to put off the question that had popped into her head. For now. "Sequenzia-san, why did you wake me up?"

"We need to leave." Sequenzia tossed the still drenched girl a towel and a change of clothes. "Be quick. We are leaving in ten minutes."

There were many things that Mie wanted to ask, but when she saw the serious faces of the two individuals in the same room as her, she decided to act upon what Sequenzia had just said. _My questions can come later. People are after the data of my parents projects. I can't let them get it!_

"Yes, Sequenzia-san!"

_Not even these people._

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of Academy City...

Meanwhile, in another part of Academy city, two girls were gathered around a pot of tea and some sweets.

"Did you get anything?"

"...Unfortunately, my information gathering ability was unable to procure any useful information. What about you, Misaka-san?"

"...same here...even though I tried to trace its origins on the internet, I could not find the person who did this."

Both girls sighed in tandem, before they each took a sip out of their drinks, a cup of hot tea and some iced tea for Misaki and Mikoto respectively.

"...why did we not do this sooner?"

"Partially because our personalities are so incompatible, some jealousy on your part, me having issues with other Level 5's, and the both of us being rivals, since we are both one of the 7 Level 5's in Academy City." Mikoto stirred the tea in her hand with the straw, a dull, uninterested look on her face.

"...its a little surprising for you to be able to come to such a conclusion, even though I am the mental specialist." Misaki picked up flower shaped biscuit before taking a dainty bite from it.

"Don't act so surprised." Mikoto took a sip from her tea, before she popped a biscuit, this one in the shape of a Gekota, into her mouth.

"..."

"..."

Both of them sat in silence for little while longer, enjoying the calming atmosphere.

* * *

**AN**

**So, how was this chapter? Good? Bad? Or pretty horrid? **

**This is the introduction of a new arc. As I know many of you have been asking(read, wanting) Percival to be out, I am going to cut him off for a while. Well, that is to be expected, since he has disappeared for a few chapters already. **

**So, how is Shutaura? Is she pretty much in sync with the one from the movie? OR is she a little OC? I don't know, since this is my take, as I have stated before(maybe not, since there is my other fic.)**

**And now, for an announcement.**

**Updates will now be slower, as they would be done in a new format I am not used to yet. Which is Word. Currently, I have been doing this all on the (fanfic)website itself, so it has been easy for me to adjust my writing whenever I want. Now, I will have to work on it in parts, in a fixed location. Which might make things better? Not too sure, but it would be great since I am able to do the things I want for the fic. Well, more of the things that I want, is a better way of putting things into perspective. Plus, the other would be me catching up on my anime. My sleep...is disappearing...**

**Anime is Life, and keep up those reviews and comments!**


	19. The root of it all…

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

_**Italics Bold**_ \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**"**** underlined bold ****"** \- Mental transmissions

Underlined \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create**

* * *

**Chapter 18: The root of it all…**

It was a beautiful day. The sun was in the air, but the day was slightly cloudy, making the weather a very pleasant one. Not too hot, nor too chilly. Even the hustle and bustle of vehicles driving by were more subdued.

It was a perfect day.

""Haaaahhh""

Twin sighs destroyed the illusion of the beautiful day.

"This is such a pain…" Misaki listlessly stirred the contents of her cup of tea. "Having to search for the person who posted that picture of you kissing my Prince…"

"Don't you have a stake in this too?" Mikoto commented, tapping her finger on the table while she munched on a biscuit.

"This is exactly why I am using my information gathering power to help you, Misaka-san." Misaki took a small sip from the remaining cup of tea, allowing it's sweet aroma and taste to waft through her nose and taste to sweep over her tongue, before she glanced at Mikoto out of the corner of her eye. "If my Prince was not involved, I would not even THINK of helping you."

"…..I guess that is to be expected after all…." Mikoto suppressed a small grin. "Although, I wonder who was the one who felt threatened by my position with Kam-"

"I won't help you anymore."

"Alright, alright." Mikoto just managed to supress the large grin that was going to erupt on her face. _It is kinda fun teasing someone who is so similar and close, yet so different and far from you. I can kind of see why she does this to me now. Not that I would agree with her methods and actions of what she thinks is 'teasing.' _Her mind flashed back to certain events that had happened. _…..yeah, that is toeing the rather fine line._

..

..

After their small teabreak(mainly consisting of them sighing like the have a pile of worries on them he size of a mountain.), they got back on track.

Basically, they were just avoiding the action of interacting with each other too much without a middleman (AKA, one Hokaze Junko).

"So, as I mentioned earlier," Misaki took out a small notepad from inside the handbag she carried with her everywhere. When she opened it, there was a rather complex diagram drawn on it. When Mikoto saw it, she was surprised. _Wow, Shokuhou sure does know how to be efficient. _"I managed to trace the 5 people who were sharing the photos online. But, they did not have much useful information on him. In fact, the only clue I got was that it was all sent to them randomly. They did not have to guts to blackmail you, seeing as you could have been a high levelled esper for all they knew, so they decided to throw it up online, and see how it all went."

"Mmm mmm….Hmm?" Mikoto nodded as she listened to Misaki, only to stop. "Did you say that the photo was posted online and shared because it all came from five people? All without any connection to each other?"

"Yes….why?"

"Well," Mikoto frowned, taking out a tablet. "From my abilities, it all came from a single area. More specifically, one person. Here."

"Thank you." Misaki nodded as she took the tablet from Mikoto. "….this is…."

"Yeah." Mikoto let out yet another sigh. "The guy in question actually edited the photo. Although, he did not know WHY he did such a thing. From my searches, it seems that he is a member of Judgement."

"Judgement?!" Misaki's face was one of shock. She sat forwards, deep in thought. The remaining dregs of tea reflected her starry eyes, deep in though. "But, that does not make much sense. If he were a member of Judgment, it would be more beneficial for him to report this incident to his higher ups instead of participating in this sort of event. Especially since he is part of Judgement."

"It does not make sense, does it." Mikoto agreed with the blonde girl's assessment. "In fact, I thought it was the work of a high level esper like you, but no one comes to mind…"

A memory flashed through Misaki's mind.

"_You stole him from me!" _

"_I spoke to Kamijou Touma before."_

"_Thank you. For what you did for him."_

"…..I may have can help us." Misaki called up the information in her mind.

* * *

Unknown, undisclosed location in Academy City.

"Hm hm hm~" A girl hummed a tune as she cooked up some food. It was not a cheery tune. If one were to hear it and describe it, they would say that the tune was full of pain. But, they would also say that it was one filled with nostalgia.

"Ah!" The girl let out a small scream of shock when the pots on the counter fell to the floor, their long dried contents breaking into fine bits against the hard floor. Cursing softly, she ignored the now messier floor, opting to finish the food that was being cooked ad prevent it from being burnt yet again.

The soft sound of a doorbell ringing interrupted her cooking.

_Who is it? _The girl titled her head slightly. She was not expecting any visitors. _That just leaves….._

Manoeuvring her body with practised ease, the girl activated the cell attached to her shoulder, not allowing any of the contents in the pot she was using to spill. "Clean up the trash, butler."

"**Sorry, but your butler is not available at the moment." **The female voice that sounded behind he made her freeze.

"Shokuhou." She spat out.

"That is my name~" The blonde haired girl sang out. "No need to wear it out."

"What are you doing here?"

"My my, Mitsuari-san. " The blonde mental manipulator giggled. "Is there a need for so much hostility?"

"When you are involved in with the dark side, you learn and adapt to become someone else. Someone more dangerous and unfazed about certain things." The girl known as Mitsuari Ayu sighed. "I'm cooking. So make it quick."

"We need your help."

"Hah!" The girl known as Ayu snorted. "And why should a Level 3 such as myself help you?"

"Oh, no, it is not for me. Well, mostly." Ayu could practically **hear **the coy grin on the blonde's face behind her. "It's for a certain person that we know."

"Don't you DARE bring him up!" Ayu's heart flared with anger. "Not after what happened!"

"Great, the Idiot has another girl that fell for him." The unfamiliar voice caused Ayu to blink her eyes in confusion. "You better not be tricking me, Shokuhou."

Turning off the fire, Ayu spun around. Her eyes met the forms of two girls. One of them, she was very familiar with. After all, she had studied, fought, and nearly killed her once before. But the other was a new one for her. "Ok, who are you?" She placed her hands on her hips. "I know Shokuhou would not bring someone she does not trust here, considering my circumstances. Or rather, why ARE you even here anyway, Queen bee?"

"It involves Kamijou-kun." The name caused her to stiffen. "And since we are all affiliated to him in some way, and since you are someone who has used technology to control people, I wanted to consult you on something."

"Consult me?" Ayu scoffed. "That must be a first." Then, her brain caught onto the first bit. "….wait, **affiliated **with Kamijou?"

"I'm his g-girlfriend." The brown-haired girl gave a blush, but she still managed to give off an intimidating aura. "Who are you, and how do you know the Idiot?"

"…...eh?" Ayu's mind drew a blank for the first time since she tried to commit suicide.

..

Some time later…..

"Hah…" Ayu gave a large sigh. "So, Kamijou got himself a girlfriend, huh. I want to be surprised by this, but I can't. I only knew it was a matter of time after all. Just…did not expect it to be to another level 5 besides Shokuhou."

"Don't try to be sarcastic." The blonde in question frowned. "You know that Kamjou-kun could not make any new memories of me, right?"

"That was something I did not know until some time after I tried to kill you, admittedly." Ayu confessed. "But still, I am surprised. That you would actually be able to get him to agree to be your girlfriend." Ayu directed that question towards the other level 5 in the room.

"It was more of a forced thing than anything." Mikoto sighed. "But, I doubt I would have been able to do it had it not been for Yurei-san's prodding and constant hints."

"Yurei-san?" Ayu tilted her head.

"Another story for another time." Mikoto tried to wave away the issue. "Can we get back to what we are doing here in the first place?"

"Ah." Ayu sighed. "I forgot that you were here for some reason. Okay," She sat upright. "Can you tell me what you are doing here?"

"Well…" Mikoto dug into her pocket, taking out her phone.

"Pfft." Ayu stifled a laugh when she saw the mascot the phone was designed after.

"Don't laugh." Mikoto glared at Ayu. "Gekota is a perfectly fine mascot."

"For kids below the age of 8." Ayu retorted, taking the phone from Mikoto's hand. "Hmm?" Ayu blinked. "So…..you and Kamijou are a couple, right?"

"Y-yeah." Unease spread through Mikoto's body. "Why?"

"So, what am I supposed to be looking at?" Ayu's voice gave away her irritation. "If this is a prank-"

"Oh, nothing of that sort, Mitsuari-san." Misaki gave a small frown. "You should have caught on already to the problem with your deduction and planning ability."

"I have a small guess." Ayu looked away from the blonde level 5 esper. "You want me to take down the person who is spreading this photo of yours?"

"80 points~." Misaki giggled. "We want to know who photoshopped this photo, AND we want to track down the person who spread this photo in the first place."

"I see….so this photo is photoshopped?" Ayu gave an interested look. "Well, that is surprising. I though this was real."

"Well, considering that there have not been any photos between the Idiot and I, this photo is definitely not real. Even though there are no digital traces on the photo to prove it was photoshopped." Mikoto folded her arms.

"…Academy city is amazing. Even though I hate its guts for **that thing**, it is amazing…."

"?"

"Never mind." Ayu reeled in her train of thoughts. "So, you need me to help you locate the person who photoshopped this photo, AND you need me to find the person who spread the photo in the first place." Ayu tilted her head, before this shrugged, her chocolate-brown locks bouncing up and down with the motion of her shoulders. "Sure, why not."

"Really?" Mikoto blinked. "I thought you would refuse."

"Normally, I would." Ayu agreed. Standing up, she took off the apron hanging from her waist, before shrugging on a coat that was hanging from the chair. "But, I would rather prevent Kmaijou from being the centre of unsavoury rumours. I at least owe him that much for saving me again. "

* * *

"So, what are your real thoughts?" Hearing Misaki's voice wiped the smile off of Ayu's face. "We both know why you are here. You would not choose to leave after what had happened. "

"And we also both know that the dark side is in quite a bit of disarray right now, what with the Magic god and Gremlin having occurred a few months back. With those incidents, security had tightened up, so their activities are forced to be much more secretive and fewer in number." Ayu countered, slipping a custom bodysuit onto her slimmer frame.

"I would care less about your confidence ability, Mitsuari-san." Misaki's tone made Ayu pause her actions, ever so slightly. "But, if my Prince learns that you died trying to help him sort out an issue that would not bother him, his mind would crack even further than it has."

"….I would have thought that your concern was false, but what you said hints at me not knowing some things." Ayu did not turn to face the blonde mental esper. She did not trust herself to do so, lest the dark feelings festering in her heart be called out once again.

"Hm~ That would not be a wrong assumption, Mitsuari-san." Misaki gave a light giggle that irked her slightly. "After all, I was like you until a certain person helped bring things into motion."

"…A person not you?" Ayu's interest was piqued. "I thought you were the type who would not allow someone to manipulate you."

"His…convincing power was very high…."

"So he blackmailed you."

"…" Misaki kept silent.

"Ha ha ha!" Ayu laughed out loud, not caring that her laughs could be heard by anyone right then. "You? The highest level mental esper? Got blackmailed? Ha ha ha!" Her laughter was so hard, she had to hold her sides, stiches already forming at the areas she gripped. "He is a human, right? Not a robot or cyborg?"

"That is up for a debate." Misaki frowned at the form of the chocolate-brown haired girl that was laughing. "Nevertheless, his proposal gave me some interest in him. Although, his planning ability could use some work."

"The only thing that I can think of is either Kamijou getting the ability to remember you, or some sort of protection." Ayu's laughter died down, although a snigger or giggle would escape every so often. "So? What was his proposal?"

"For fixing his memory, everyone involved with him would become happy."

"…"

"…"

"…you aren't kidding." Ayu realised.

"Why would this Queen joke about something as tasteless as messing with one's crush." Misaki pouted, but Ayu could tell she was provoking her. Just a little bit. "But, his proposal was very interesting, to say the least."

"Really? Do tell." Ayu opened a cabinet, rummaging through it for some items.

"…For fixing his memory, he, or rather, we, would work together to make a harem for my Prince"

***Clank***

"Oww….." Ayu rose from under the cabinet, rubbing the back of her head gently. She had knocked her head against the top of the inside of the cabinet when she heard Misaki's words. "I am sorry, but could you repeat that? I think I misheard you."

"You did not. Your healing ability is perfectly fine." Misaki tilted her head. "Or perhaps….you are unable to process what I said?"

"You better not be joking." Ayu grumbled. "If you are, I swear-!"

"It is no lie." Misaki's strong gaze met Ayu's eyes.

"….Fine, if you give me that sort of look, I would not take your words lightly, at the very least." Ayu relented. "After all, despite what I did to you, you helped to save me, and hide me from the darkness of the City."

"It was the effort of me and that hag." Misaki spat out, venom laced within her tone.

"…" Ayu was slightly taken aback by Misaki's tone and speech, having not expected such venom or language to come from the student of the prestigious al-girls school known as Tokiwadai.

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain black haired beauty sneezed, momentarily disrupting her work.

"Are you okay, Kumokawa Seria?" An old man who was not too far from the girl asked, concern clearly laced in his tone.

"I'm fine." Seria muttered, sniffling. _Did someone talk about me? Most likely that cow._

* * *

"Achoo!"

"Bless you." Ayu did not even spare Misaki a glance when she sneezed, opting to arm herself with some guns, grenades, and a few phones. Patting herself down, she nodded, satisfied with her equipment. "Ok, let's go."

"Are you sure you do not need anything else?" Misaki gave a once-over for the bare-looking girl.

"It's enough." Ayu let out a smile. A rare action for her. "My level rose slightly, and I know some hand-to-hand combat. So I'll be fine."

..

..

"You ready?" Mikoto was found to be leaning outside the door to Ayu's apartment.

"As ready as I'll be for now." Ayu sighed, before she locked her apartment. Turning on her heel, she walked quickly, her footsteps echoing in the long hallway.

"You know where we should go?" Mikoto hurried after the mental esper.

"I have a few hunches." Ayu fiddled with the phone she had taken out. "….you aren't going to ask me what my esper ability is? Or what it does?"

"I am curious, but seeing as you are someone that knows Shokuhou…." Mikoto spared a glance at said blonde, who's breathing was starting to get laboured by the fast pace. "I guess you could say that I won't trust you to a certain extent."

"…..I can understand that." Ayu turned her attention back to her phone. "She is someone who manipulates people after all. That said, I am similar to her."

"Hm?"

"It's called Mental Stinger." Ayu explained as they walked. "It is pretty similar to Shokuhou's Mental Out, but my ability is considered to be weaker then hers. At first."

"At first?"

"My level was said to have stagnated at level 3, should I follow the current curriculum that everyone is following." They descended a flight of stairs as they walked, Misaki's panting now slightly audible. "In fact, the said could have been said for Shokuhou, until they decided that one of us should be a Level 5. The end result is as you can see." Ayu smiled bitterly. "You are the same, I'm guessing?"

"…..the same?" Mikoto felt like her head was spinning. "What…..are you talking about?"

"You don't know?" The surprised look, as well as her tone, made Mikoto's mouth feel very dry. "I guess you don't. You are just like everyone else, I suppose."

"Tell me!" Mikoto's mouth felt dry, but she did not let that change her mind. "What did you mean when you said that I was the same? That I was chosen?"

"…..Are you sure you want to know?" When Mikoto realised it, they had stopped descending the stairs. They had stopped at one of the numerous landings, allowing Mikoto to see the chocolate-haired girl's eyes.

And they unnerved her.

It was full of darkness, unlike the usual bright, light filled eyes she was used to seeing in her friends and classmates. Full of pain, suffering, guilt, and a myriad of other emotions.

It reminded her to much of Touma's eyes when she faced him in Denmark, before she shocked him back to his sense.

"Are you sure? " The girl before her asked once more. "If you know, **once you know**, things would never be the same."

"…I do." Mikoto swallowed her saliva in attempt to quell the dryness of her mouth.

"…"

"…" Both girls stared at each other, neither saying a word to each other.

"I like your resolve." Ayu finally stated, breaking the silence. "So, I'll give in to your request. But, I'll only tell you after we are done, and I am back at my home. If I tell you now, your mind will wander about, and you would lose focus."

"….I'll take it." Mikoto nodded her head firmly. _No matter what Mitsuari-san tells me, I won't lose myself._

_I won't._

* * *

Timeskip

"This is the last place I can think of." There girls stood outside a somewhat fancy apartment complex.

"….Are you sure this is the place?" Mikoto frowned. "We have been all over the city, and its nearing curfew."

"Well, it should be." Ayu wiped her brow. "The information network I run traced the last mot likely suspicious individual here. Plus, I'd rather not stay out too late."

"Why not?" As Mikoto tilted her head curiously, she hacked into the security pad. "Judging from where you stayed, I thought you don't have to worry about school."

"I'd rather not get found out by the city that I am still alive." Rolling her eyes, Ayu tapped her foot against the floor. "The dark side thinks I'm either under lock and key, or six feet under. This life may not be ideal, but it is much better than being kept locked up or dead." The device in Mikoto's hand beeped once, signalling the end of the hacking process. The electronic door swung open. "Oh, look at that. Well, let's get going." Ayu proceeded to enter the building, while Mikoto tried to ignore what she had just heard, failing spectacularly in the process. In fact, Mikoto NOT stopping the chocolate-haired girl from entering the building and questioning her right there and then showed how much she had grown. From interrogating people when she heard something that did not sit right with her immediately of course.

"Hey!" A security guard which had been stationed at the front stood up. "What are you kids-"

"Category 4-2 for 10 minutes." With a simple press on her remote, Misaki managed to take control of the guard. "Category 2-2 for past 3 minutes."

"….You know, I still don't like how easily you can control others." Mikoto commented as she looked at Misaki work.

"But, you know it is necessary, Misaka-san~" Miskai coyly said, a smile on her face.

"….that's why I hate it even more." Mikoto grumbled. _She could make any person do her bidding, or make them do something that they would not normally do, and Misaki would not get into any sort of trouble, as long as the target is human in nature._

"Do you hate mental-type espers. Misaka-san?" Ayu asked as she started the climb up the stairs. The reason they took the stairs and not the elevator was that it was easier for them to remain off the system records, and they would be able to hide from their target until the last minute.

"To a certain extent." Mikoto nodded.

"Why? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well," Mikoto began. "Mental espers have the ability to invade a person's mind right? So, they could do all sorts of things to that person. They could look through their memories, destroy relationships with their friends and family of anyone they hate, even make them do illegal things for their own benefit. It's no different from forcing a person under another's rule, or an invasion of privacy."

"…I can see your point." Ayu uncomfortably rubbed her arms. "But, not all espers are like that."

"I know." Mikoto sighed. "It's just…something that I thought about when I realised that there were mental-type espers in Academy city. It was actually one of the reasons I became an electromaster."

"Really?" Misaki's voice echoed off the walls before it reached their ears, showing how far she was from them. Even though they were just climbing stairs. "I though you became an electromaster because of your high tsundere ability, Misaka-san."

"Ha ha." Mikoto deadpanned. "That's REALLY funny, Shokuhou."

"So, you became an electromaster because you wanted to be one?" Ayu tilited her head.

"I think so anyway." Mikoto nodded. "Most people think it's random, but personally, I think it is due to what our personality is, as well as what our desires are."

"Personality, and your desires?" Ayu tilted her head a little.

"Yeah." Mikoto confirmed. "Generally pyrokentics have a high temper, or a warm personality. Aerohands have a lofty type of personality, or have some sort of presence to them. Electromasters are those who are quick to change."

"Now that you mention it….I guess there IS that sort of trend." Ayu consented. "But, I don't think that I had any desires or the personality to want to look into the minds of others and control them."

"Like I said, it is a theory of mine." Mikoto shrugged. "Anyway, we are quite close to the room, right?"

"Erm…" Ayu flipped open her phone. "…yeah, rather close."

"Anoh~" A panting voice made both of the girls at the top of the stairs groan lightly. "Could you…..wait for…..me?"

"We would have to do that, even if you had not asked us to do so." Mikoto felt a vein throb on her forehead. "In terms of memory manipulation, you have the upper hand compared to Mitsuari-san here. Speaking of," she turned to look at the girl in question. "How did you manage to locate the people that were most suspicious? Especially since the both of us could not?"

"I…have my ways." Ayu averted her eyes.

"…what was with that slight pause there?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" Ayu pouted. "I'm not! Honest!"

***Jiiiiii***

Both girls stared at the chocolate-haired girl, doubt deep in their eyes. Small beads of sweat started to drip down her face, making the stares even more pronounced as they stabbed into Ayu's skin.

"A-hahaha~ We have to get the guy now. We might not know when they might get away!" Desperately, the newly-minted pseudo level 4(or rather, the month old, self proclaimed level 4) opened the door, momentarily surprising the two.

_Ah, she escaped… _Not too surprisingly, the two level 5 espers had the same expression, reaction, and thought running through their heads and on their faces. After all, they were both very familiar with a certain spiky-haired boy's actions. One because she had spent quite a bit of time with said boy, while the other had spent quite a bit of time chasing after and fighting said boy.

They spent a few precious moments stuck in this position before they remembered why they had climbed the large hotel-like building. Especially Misaki.

..

..

"Okay!" Ayu enthusiastically kicked down the door, the stares from earlier still prickling her skin. Acting quickly, she pointed her device a choice, a phone, at the sole inhabitant of the room. "I ask you to stay still and answer any question we ask of you truthful-Kya!" She was interrupted by a flying spoon aimed at her face.

"Ha ha!" The person grabbed the half-finished plate of food, using the fork he still had in his hands to shovel it into his mouth. "You won't get me alive!"

"Hold it!" Mikoto scrambled into the room, electricity already sparking off of her body. "I don't know who you are, or why you are doing this, but you better stop it right now!" With every word, the sparks that flew off of her grew, a clear indication of her current mental state. "In fact, you better…eh?" Mikoto blinked at the sight before her.

Brown eyes took in a rather **feminine face.** Long, golden hair framed that face, over the person's shoulder's reaching up to the person's waist. A rather tight-fighting yellow shirt and black pants were fitted over the body, with a dark stole wrapped around his shoulders. Blue eyes shone as they too took in the appearance of the girl before him.

"Hey Miko-chan!" Thor waved his hand, plate and fork on his other. "What are you doing here?"

"…..that's what I should be asking you!" Mikoto's face turned a burning red when she heard the nickname that Thor had given her. And not in a good way. "Why are you here Thor? You should not even have a need to even BE in Academy City!"

"Ah, about that…" Thor placed down the plate on a table. "Well, I got invited here."

"Invited?"

"Yeah!" Thor's face split into a grin. "Some guy said that there was a high chance of a fight against strong guys coming to Academy City, so I decided to invite myself to the party!"

"What happened to the poor guy?" Mikoto felt a small inkling of pity for the guy whom had told Thor about this fight. Most likely, he had been blown away or sliced into tiny pieces. "I'm guessing you fought him?"

"Yep!" Thor beamed. "In fact, he was very strong too! Had to use my other mode to win, although that's no fun. His shield somehow managed to block my fusion blades, like Kamijou, so that was something!"

"Hmm?" Mikoto blinked. "…..could you say that again?"

"He used a shield to block my Arc Fusion blades!" Thor's face did not change. In fact, his smile grew wider. "Man, he sure was something, he managed to block my attacks pretty easily, and he managed to land quite a few counters against me! " Thor rotated his hand, showing a purple bruise, with a scab on top of it. "Got me good too when he used the edge of it to smash into my hand. Had to use 'Almighty Thor' to escape that and fight him. Even then, he managed to surprise me. I won after some hits though. Magic can't seem to heal it, but your science medicine works pretty well too!"

"…did he have grey-platinum hair? And when his shield was gone, did it turn into a liquid-like metal that stuck to his arm? More specifically, his left arm?" Mikoto felt like face-palming.

"…yeah, he did." Thor grinned. "Why? You know him?"

"….sometimes, I wish I did not. Or rather, I wish I did not meet him at all." Mikoto groaned, slumping against the wall of the room. "…I'm guessing this is the place you are holing up in?"

"Yeah, its that guy's place." Thor stretched. "He said I could use it for now. Said something about having some important business to take care of before he executed plan 'Camelot'. Whatever that is. Oh, and if you meet him, could you get him to fight against me again? That fight is like a boss that is just a few levels lower than you, so the xp he gives is pretty good! Not as much as Kamijou, but pretty good!"

..

As the two talked, Ayu just stayed where she was, sitting on the floor against the wall, just taking in their conversation without understanding much of what was going on.

…_what is even going on? _Ayu's eyes were swirling slightly. _Almighty Thor? Arc Fusion blades? Magic? I just wanted to live in peace, but this is a little much for me to take in after living in peace for a few months._

…_.I wanna go home and sleep…._

..

"This place is pretty nice." Now that they were talking, Mikoto could properly look at Percival's home.(Though right now it was being inhabited by a battle junkie who is also a former member of Gremlin). The bad was pushed up against a corner, with multiple bookshelves inside the room, filled with various books and storage devices. In one corner of the room was what she assumed to be a workout station, for there were dumbbells and a treadmill tucked into one corner. "So, what are you doing?" Mikoto folded her arms.

"I was having some dinner before your friend barged in, but I'm not too troubled by that." Thor shrugged. "I like to fight after all, and surprise attacks are a nice change of pace from my usual up-front confrontations. Although, hers was little too weak."

"Not that!" Mikoto sighed. "I'm talking about the picture."

"Picture?" Thor tilted his head.

"Someone was spreading a picture of me and Kamijou together." Mikoto explained. "I guess you don't know, since you are a magi-"

"Oh, that?" Thor grinned. "That was me."

"…huh?" Mikoto froze up.

"Yeah, that guy you mentioned? He has a pretty awesome set-up going on here." Thor took a moment to open up a safe. Nestled insides was a small drive. "Man, he sure has some nifty things. A virtual reality headgear with preloaded fighting games, some intense exercise equipment, and some awesome cookbooks. Hough, this drive of his is the one thing which I like the most. " Placing down his now empty plate, he reached into the safe, pulling out the drive. "This drive has quite a bit of tools and applications in it, as well some information that is really advanced! I'm not a scientist, so I'm not sure how advanced it is, but it looks like it is top secret!"

"….you made that picture?" Mikoto's ager was getting higher.

"Eh? Yeah." Thor nodded. "It was a great way to pass the time. Plus, I thought it would be a great way to get you and Kamijou together. So, did it work, Miko-ch-"

"DON'T CALL ME MIKO-CHAN!" Roaring, Mikoto let loose a few dozen bolts of electricity, all aimed at the blonde male before her.

"HII!" Beside her, Ayu screamed in fear at the sheer intensity and number of lightning bolts aimed at the male in the room. The thick smell of ozone was in the air-

"Hoi!"

-and it got even thicker when the battle junkie known as Thor intercepted those bolts with long blades composed of lighting. His Arc Fusion Blades.

"Ah, I knew that you would get a react with a fiery attack!" Thor nonchalantly waved his fingers, the Arc Fusion blades somehow not managing to damage anything in the room. "So, how is that tsun-tsun act helping in your progress rate with Kamijou-chan~"

"Oh shut it you battle junkie!" Mikoto fired a few more bolts, this times with less intensity. "I had to walk around Academy City all day for the culprit who made this photo! Then, I had to deal with the hordes of girls going after me to confirm rumours, with said rumours somehow managing to escalate from a photoshopped picture into Touma being someone I eloped with over the holidays, and that I am somehow married to him!" Small char marks began to appear around Mikoto, creating a perfect circle. "Not to mention I had to spend so much time combing through the ENTIRE Internet for the people who had distributed those photos, and then waste time trying to hide from my Dorm Manager, who is able to keep even us Level 5s in line!"

With every bolt she fired and every bolt that Thor deflected, more and more of the room got burnt or damaged. The bookshelves, as well as the books that were on it, began to smoke. The electronic device on said bookshelves sparked, before it burst. The gym equipment received little damage, except for the treadmill, which was smoking. And as for the bed, feathers were flying all over the room. "Do you even know how much grief, pain and sweat you put me through!? When I am done with you, I'm gonna- yeouch!" Mikoto stopped her barrage of attacks, pressing a hand to her temple. "Shokuhou!"

"Hai~ Hai~" Misaki twirled her remote in her hand, acting unconcerned. "Did you call me, Misaka-san?"

"Why did you try to enter my mind?" Mikoto slowly asked the blonde esper, sparks crackling to life on her forehead again.

"Well, it was to calm you down of course." Mikoto froze. "I mean, your anger ability is really powerful, but this is not outside you know~" Misaki drawled out. "We are currently in the residence of a certain someone we owe a debt to, especially you, Mi-sa-ka-san~"

"…" Mikoto took a look around her. Now that she had stopped her, the small bloodlust was tinting her vision was also gone. Which also enabled her to see the damage that had occurred.

The first thing that drew her attention was the treadmill. It was emitting sparks every so often, indicating that it was damaged. Thankfully, that was all the damage it seemed to have.

Next would be the bed, seeing as it was the origin of the feathers that were slowly falling all over the room. Almost immediately after glancing at it, she looked away, her mind wishing her eyes were playing tricks on her. _There is….no way that is the bed, right? It has to be a trick on my mind, right? Right? I mean, magic could do this to me, right?_

Unfortunately for the third-ranked level 5 of Academy City, this a situation she could not run away from. The bed, which had been a pristine white, was now a charcoal black. In every sense of the word 'charcoal'. The mattress was full of holes, all from Mikoto's lightning strikes that got deflected. Around said holes were burn marks, so this made the entire mattress more or less black. The pillows, which once sat on top of velvety-looking bedcovers, were nowhere to been at that glance. A closer look revealed some pieces of partially-blackened fabric. Most likely, the pillow had been sent to oblivion when no less than a dozen bolts hit the bed. And then finally, was the frame. What was once a simple, but classic, wooden frame, was now a black skeleton, a mere shadow of its former glory a few minutes ago.

In fact, when Mikoto turned to look at the thing that was once a bed, the legs crumbled, causing the entire thing to collapse in a cloud of black dust, leaving behind bits and pieces of charcoal-black wooden pieces, a roasted bed, and the charred remains of pillows.

And then, there was the bookshelves. The numerous books that had once lain on the shelves were now less than half. Some had fallen over, black burn marks all over their covers. They had fallen off when they were struck by the lightning bolts. Then there was the storage banks. Most, if not, all of them, were melted plastic.

"…ah" Strangely enough, Mikoto felt a little guilty and remorseful at what she had done, considering she disliked the person who owned that apartment quite a bit. If she were to put it in a ranking…two ranks below Misaki now, but half a rank lower than Misaki when Mikoto had not interacted with her much.

"So, why were you spreading those photos?"

After trying to clean up the mess that was Percival's home(less of clean up, and more of garbage disposal, since over half the items that were there were trash), Mikoto asked Thor the most pressng question.

"Hmm?"

"What's with that confused look?" Mikoto grumbled. "You were the one who distributed those photos, right?"

"No, not really."

"…what do you mean, 'Not really' ?"

"I mean, that photo? It was made for fun, you know?" Thor shrugged carelessly. "I never had the intention to spread it at first. I only made it cause it was soooo boring just reading books day in and day out. That guy made me stay inside this room, unless it was to buy ingredients to cook food, or to buy food, or t buy some more entertainment materials I could use. Although honestly, the best sort of entertainment for me would be fighting people face-to-face. They bring in so much more Xp than reading books!"

…_what? _Mikoto felt like her head was pounding and spinning at the same time. _So, Thor did not do this? I thought he did, since he might have planned for me to come here by spreading that photo. But now that I think about it, he could have just kidnapped me to a remote location, or just sent out a message to me via the Idiot's whereabouts_

"…so, you made that photo of Misaka-san because you were bored?" Misaki clarified, having noticed that Mikoto was in shock.

"Yeah! The program was pretty difficult to use so I tired it out. The photoshopping was also pretty difficult, so it was a good amount of Xp for me before I managed to get a satisfactory one." Thor sighed. "But, that Xp is allocated to lifestyle skills, and not my fighting skills, so it's a waste."

"…then, who spread the photo?" Mikoto's voice was slightly hoarse as she spoke. After all, she had also just noticed the time on the clock that was hanging from the wall(the only thing not damaged by the fight. Beside the computer) _Shit! I know we should be going back now, but…I want to know! Id don't want this trip to be all for nothing!_

"Mm….by Lessar-chan?" Thor folded his arms over his chest, leaning against the charcoal remains of the bed. "She stopped by here when she noticed my magic to see who it was. I would have fought her, but then she saw the photo that I managed to photoshop, and decided to fight me another day."

_Lessar…lessar…. _Mikoto faintly recalled someone with that name, but she could not place her finger on it. _Ah! _The image of a girl wearing a blue, white and red jacket, with a small, devil-like tail appeared in her mind. "That little girl came by?!"

"Oh~ You know Lessar-chan?" Thor looked interested as he leaned forwards. "Then, did the two of you have a grand fight?"

"…I guess?" Mikoto shrugged a little. "Wait! This is not the time for this!" Mikoto hurriedly grabbed Thor's shoulders. "So, you made the photo, and Lessar spread it around?"

"Mmm…" Thor hummed. "I'll give you the answer if you promise that we would fight."

"…as long as you tell me about it in advance, and we fight in a place where there are no people about…" Mikoto grudgingly assented. Honestly, she would rather not fight Thor. He was a battle junkie for one, and it would be a waste of time for her. But, she was pressed for time.

"Okay!" Thor grinned. "I guess what you just said summed it up nicely. I made the photo out of boredom, while Lessar distributed the photo to smoke out Kamijou!"

"…eh? Smoke him out?" Ayu blinked. "I don't see how that would smoke out Kamijou-san? Also, why are you not calling him with honorifics?"

"…I see." Misaki sighed. She had figured out Lessar's plan. "It would seem that this 'Lessar' would smoke out my Prince by distributing these photos. When they populace finds these photos, they would natural want to confirm if this photo is true. So, they would do one of three things." Misaki raised three fingers.

"First, they could look for the location the photo was taken, and gather evidence from the surroundings, like camera footage, or witnesses who were there that day. This method would be the most popular, but least effective way of gathering evidence and having their questions answered. So, that leaves two other options. " One finger went down, leaving two.

"The second way would be to look for the individual who took the photo." Misaki explained. "This photo looks like it was taken by a third party after all."

_That is kinda true. _Mikoto thought. "At first glance, t looks like a person held the camera that took this photo, and then, when it was sent to them, they could have posted it onto the internet for all to see. But, this way is flawed from the beginning."

"For one, Misaka-san is a Level 5 esper. She could make use of her ability to place the camera onto a stand, and set it on a timer while not moving from her position. Or, she could use her ability to manipulate the camera to take a photo. So, this second method would be for those who are over-thinking this." The finger went down, leaving one last remaining finger.

"And finally, the last method. That is, searching for the individuals in the photo themselves. This method would be the most effective method."

"After all, there a hundreds of people who would be looking for them. With a little bit coordination power, they could effectively cover the entirety of Academy City to look for these people. And, when they do, they would start to tell others where they are in order to corner the individual to beat them up, or ask them about their relationship with the City's third-ranked level 5. So, if they find my Prince, they would also alert others. Should this 'Lessar' be in these groups, she would be able to locate my Prince easily." Misaki tilted her head. "By the way, who is this 'Lessar' you were talking about?"

"A 12 to 13 year old girl who is trying to seduce Kamijou into sleeping with her, so as to coerce him to work for her out of his guilt of sleeping with a young girl." Mikoto deadpanned.

"…what a barbaric method."

"You do **NOT **get to say that!" Mikoto shouted. "It is not that convincing, coming from someone with a chest as large as yours!"

"…really?" Misaki pouted. "But, I AM a maiden at heart after all."

"Aha ha ha" Broken laughter caused the two level 5 espers to turn towards the other remaining girl in the room with them. "I thought that there being a few of us going after Kamijou-san to be his girlfriend would be hard enough, but what is with this!" She kicked the wall. "My opponents are two level 5 espers, a nun, the sisters of the third-ranked level 5, and now, a young girl who is not afraid to lose her virginity to a guy who is still in high school to get him to be indebted to her." The kicking grew in intensity. "Ah ha ha ha….the world has gone crazy…"

_Trust me, that is the least of your worries…. _Both level 5 espers in the room had the same train of thought flash through their minds as they thought back to what they had learned in the past few months.

* * *

**AN**

**Here is another chapter for you guys! How was it? How was it? Was it very delicious? Or too much bitterness?**

**This chapter is the first on Word, so there might be some kinks for me to work out before it goes A-Okay. Not the things I wanted got transferred over. Sigh. And also, sorry for the later update than usual. I like to keep a few chapters in advance so I can look through them later on to make some minor edits here and there to the overall plot.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review, and stay safe!**

**Anime is Life!**


	20. The hits and misses of life

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

_**Italics Bold**_ \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**"**** underlined bold ****"** \- Mental transmissions

Underlined \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create**

* * *

**Chapter 19: The hits and misses of life**

It was a hot day. A **very **hot day. Compared to the day before, it was a much more hotter environment. Usually, one would try to cool off by spending time at a beach, or a place with air-conditioning.

"Soo…hot…"

"I…feel like my body is melting…"

But for two certain ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School, this already hot day was made even worse by their current predicament.

"My body is soo tired." Misaki practically collapsed onto the chair behind her. Taking out an electric fan from her bag, she sighed in relief as the cool winds eased the almost torturous heat that her body was being forced to endure.

"You barely did anything." Mikoto was surprised by how elegantly Misaki managed to flop onto the chair behind her.

"But I'm exhausted." Misaki pouted. "And this heat is making it worse." She pouted. "Can't I use my ability to get us out of this faster?"

"No." Mikoto deadpanned. "Since I'm here, you can't use your ability to worm your way out of trouble. Even more so since the Dorm manager is here."

"But~ My feet are killing me~" Misaki pouted even more, placing her hands together.

"How are your feet killing you? You barely walked!" Mikoto said, exasperated.

"My my Misaka-san" Misaki her mouth(or rather, her grin) behind her hand as she looked at the brown-haired level 5 beside her. "Some of us have more...assets to carry around compared to others, you know? And, since I am not as tomboyish as you, my strength is not as barbaric as yours, you know?"

***Grk***

More tick marks appeared on Misaka's face, with several more appearing when she saw the blonde mental esper push up her rather enormous chest. To make it even more painfully obvious to her how less developed she was compared to her mother, the uniform that they were both wearing perfectly accentuated all the right curves. Especially on Misaki's body.

Yet, Mikoto smirked, even though her face twitched from her anger. "That just means less heat for me."

"…Pardon?" Misaki's smile faltered slightly, showing that she had not expected that response from Mikoto.

"I mean," Mikoto began. "Since I am **tomboyish,** I keep my hair short. And, since I am **tomboyish**, my chest is not as well-developed as yours…since I keep burning the fats meant for it…" A dark cloud hung over Misaka as she dealt damage to herself. "But!" Mikoto persevered, enduring the pain she dealt herself. "This also means I would have to deal with less heat!" Mikoto grinned. "After all, studies have shown that with more fats, you retain more heat. Add the fact your long hair would also trap heat behind your back," Mikoto paused, before she delivered her ultimatum. "You are dealing with even MORE heat compared to me. And, as such, you are suffering a much crueller fate than mine!"

"Urgh…" Misaki froze. _Misaka-san is right…studies have shown that humans with more fats retain more heat compared to humans with less fats. This is what enables humans with a higher fat content in their body to survive longer in colder climates. As breasts are mainly fats, and since they cover a large amount of my chest, my heat retention ability would be much higher as compared to Misaka-san!_

Reaching this conclusion, Misaki groaned in defeat. Had she had enough energy in her body, she would have bit onto a handkerchief in frustration instead, just like in an anime.

Just then, a small group of children walked up to them.

"Onee-chans!" The head of the group, a small boy, gave them a bowl. "Can we have seconds?"

"Sure thing." Smiling, Mikoto took the ladle-

"Not you Onee-chan." Mikoto froze. "That Onee-chan sitting there."

"… …" Misaka did not know how to respond to that favourisim right off the bat. Coming from a kid half her age, no less!

"…ara ara." Smiling, Misaki stood. "If that is the case, sure thing little boy."

"Thank you very much!" The boy smiled brightly at the busty level 5, before his ear was pulled severely by the girl next to him. "Ow ow ow ow~"

"You…" The girl growled, before she faced Mikoto. "I'm sorry about Kaito. He is rather particular about who serves him."

"…I see…" Mikoto laughed awkwardly. _This kid is already perverted? Or was he just conditioned to prefer females with a bigger chest to serve him? _"Out of curiosity, what type of person does he prefer serve him?"

"Someone like that Onee-chan." The girl unhesitatingly pointed at Misaki. "By the way Onee-chan, how do you get your chest to be so big?"

"Urk!" Mikoto felt like an arrow had stabbed her straight into her guts. _Kid…why…?_

"Mm…drink lots of milk, okay?" Misaki bent down to pat the girl on the head. "If you drink a lot of it, your chest would grow ve~ry big. Then, you would have to be careful of the other Onii-sans. They would go after you. Okay?"

"Got it~" The girl cheerfully stated. "Ah, Onee-san, could you fill up me and my friend's bowl too?"

"Sure thing." With practised ease, Mikoto took the two bowls and laded the food into them. "Here."

"Thank you very much!" Bowing her head slightly, the girl took the bowls of food into her hands, before she turned away, leaving the two espers behind.

_This is too much torture… _Mikoto wiped the sweat that formed on her brow yet again. _Not only do we have to serve this, we have to stand in this heat? How is this a fair punishment?_

..

Turning back the clock a bit…

After Mikoto, Misaki and Ayu left Percival's formerly beautiful home, they had to rush Ayu back into her home, before they rushed back to their dorms. They could have just left the poor girl, but due to the circumstances Misaki had accidentally placed her in, as well as the action of the two level 5 espers, they did not have the heart to leave her alone, exposed to the dark side of the city.

So, after many twists and turns, they somehow managed to get Ayu into the Dianoid, before they both rushed back to the dorms via the Railgun express. But, despite their best efforts, they were unable to escape the all-knowing gaze of the Dorm manager. Especially since she was on the look-out for the third-ranked esper.

Of course, they could have escaped that predicament rather easily, had they chosen not to do so. As the second-in-command of Misaki's group had once noted before, when the two worked together, they could commit the perfect crime. Manipulation of human memories, and the alteration of digital archives from cctv cameras. With these two bases covered, they would have nothing to fear about something they did being exposed.

But…they chose not to escape instead.

After all, the boy they loved(one being his girlfriend) did not like people to abuse their powers for no good reason.

Thus, they took the punishment that was given to them with some grace. And said punishment?

Serving a group of children food at a certain orphanage. With said servings being mostly cold. This added to the already brutal punishment of them having to serve dozens of bowls of food to the ravenous children for a few hours straight, wearing their school outfit and an apron over it, in the blistering summer heat.

_At least we can eat up the remaining cold after-lunch deserts. _Mikoto sighed in her mind when she thought back to the Dorm manager's instructions to them. "Well, this is better for me, I guess."

"How so?" Misaki sat down on the chair heavily. "This is absolute torture! I would rather clean the pool then serve food to these children for hours on end!"

"And end up being swamped with people asking questions about Kamijou?" Misaki kept silent at Mikoto's response. "I admit, this is not ideal, but it is much better than having our whereabouts being broadcasted to the rest of the Tokiwadai students."

"…I guess you are right." Misaki sighed.

Mikoto smirked. Then, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Putting a smile on her face, she turned to look at the next kid-

***clang***

-only for it to slip out of sweaty grasp

The ladle she was holding dropped into the pot, the handle making a loud noise when it hit the sides of the half-empty pot.

"Ah!" Mikoto panicked, using her powers to catch the ladle before it hit the ground

"Misaka-san, did you drop the ladle because of your butterfingers?" Misaki, oblivious to the newest observer, giggled at Misaka's actions at first. Then, she turned to the newcomer. "So, what do you want, little boy?"

"…" The boy kept quiet, choosing instead to stare at the two girls. This also allowed the two to observe him a little closer.

Black hair framed his face, along with a few faded scars here and there. Thick spectacles were set upon his nose, giving the impression of a geeky kid. But, the faint bruises and muscles on his hands and upper arms said otherwise.

"Come one Seisen!" The girl called back to the black-haired kid. He looked at the two girls one more time, before he ran off, quickly disappearing in the sea of kids.

"…he looked too similar to someone…" Mikoto frowned. "Do you remember?"

"Not really." Misaki looked up, a finger on her cheek. "He looked very similar to someone, but I can't put my finger on it."

* * *

"We're here." Light flooded into the dark van she was in, forcing her to over her eyes, lest she be blinded.

"Where are we?" Mie asked as she blinked rapidly, trying to clear the stars that had appeared in her vision.

"Another safe house." Sequenzia appeared from behind the open door. "This place is somewhere within District 2 of Academy City. So, it is very hard for anyone to enter inside."

"…where are my parents?" Mie rubbed her eyes. _Finally, those stars are gone._

"In a hospital near District 7." Came the short reply. IB had appeared from behind Sequenzia, stretching his arms as he did so. "The doctor there is the best. He is, and I quote, 'As long as my patient is still breathing when he arrives, he would be out of the hospital within a week.' "

_That sounds like a scam. _"Are you sure he is not just fibbing?"

"Trust me, I know. I had to get my arm reattached, and it's working fine." For emphasis, he swung his arms about vigorously.

_What on earth did he do that made him have to reattach his arm to his body?! _Mie swallowed down those words, as well as her saliva, to parch the sudden dryness her mouth experienced. "…okay then."

"Right!" A man appeared behind her, clad in a skintight black suit with grey paddings all over his body. He patted her on the back lightly, but to the thin girl, it felt more like a hard thump. "Get off the van, will you? The longer we are out in the open, the more likely those group of people that came after you would appear."

"Aren't we in one of the more heavily guarded areas in Academy city?" Mie asked, confused. _If we are inside District 2, wouldn't we be safe? The weapons that Academy city develops are more advanced than the rest of the world after all._

"Hah!" The man snorted. "If that were the case, then some Anti-skill members would have just escorted you here. They are more suited to deal with espers after all. But not us." His gaze hardened. "We deal with outside threats that enter Academy City. And this group after you fits that bill perfectly. And, it looks like espers are with them too. Whether our employers had something to do with these espers joining this group," he shrugged. "we have no clue–"

"That's enough Crow 7." Sequenzia barked. "You loose lips have caused us quite a bit of trouble before."

"Hey!" He grumbled. "It is just chatting."

"Which is what caused some of our targets to slip by us and make us work an extra day, you nitwit!" A female soldier, similarly attired as the man behind Mie, slapped him on the head.

"And, with those loose lips, combined with IB's luck, we are more likely to end up in some sort of trouble. Especially for IB." Sequenzia sighed.

"I may not be a high level esper, but luck is just a set of probabilities." Mie frowned. Getting off the van, she tuned to face the leader of the unit protecting her. "So, you can't blame luck for whatever happens to your team, Sequenzia-san."

"You talking 'bout IB?" A gruff looking man jumped out of the passenger seat. "He ain't a part of our team. He is more of a…mercenary. Right, Beansprout?"

"Don't call me that." The female from earlier scowled heavily at the gruff man. "…but yeah, IB is not part our unit. Captain knows him from a previous job we had. She worked with him briefly, and it seems that she liked him."

"Liked him?" Mie openly stared at the two mentioned people. Right now, they were discussing something not too far away. Another person was approaching them, but they had not noticed them yet. "What do you mean? Like, as in love?"

"Most likely." The sole female in the group surrounding her shrugged. "After that job, she started to be more feminine, and she was more caring about us. It took us for a loop, but we already cared about her quite a bit, so her changing was something we welcomed. Rather gratefully too."

"Why?"

"Well, before we met IB, she was pretty strict on the training. Especially on herself." The first man sighed. "Every day, she would devote herself to training and polishing her skills. She gave us a few breaks, but she herself never took them. In fact, she hated to stay idle."

"…that sounds tiring." Mie thought back to when her parents would work. Whenever they were working on a especially-tough project, the two of them would stay up late at night, fingers tapping and pens scratching paper the only sounds in the dead of the night instead of light breathing.

"It was." The first man nodded. "Even still, she forced herself to work, never taking a break."

"Then, that guy came and went after a job we did." The female nodded to the spiky haired individual, the only one besides her to wear clothes that were not coloured black. "Chief became more girlish, not as uptight as before. Although…sometimes she would be pissed off for no reas- Gyah!"

This time, Mie and the female kicked him in the shin and the gut respectively. "You are too insensitive, you know that?"

..

"So, how long do you think we have?" Touma asked.

"…about less than a day." Shutaura replied after a moment's hesitation. "If what you said was true, they would be able to track Akikawa-san no matter where she went. And, with enough time, they would be able to scout this place and infiltrate the facility, and obtain the data they want."

"Well, then we should best protect Akikawa-san as best as we can." Touma took a peek at the aforementioned girl. As it was, she was talking to the small group that had came along with them. "Where are the rest?"

"They would come along in a short while." Shutaura took out a hologram projector. Turning it on, it displayed a simple map of the entirety of Academy City. "Right now, this is where we are." She pointed to a blinking dot on the holographic map. "And, these dots are the rest of the unit." She indicated to other, different coloured dots. All of them were moving at a relatively smooth pace. "Hopefully, we can buy ourselves a bit more time with this method."

"…I hope so." Touma sighed. "That robot seemed to know about me, so it would be easy to think that they would be able to see through the method you are using with some magic."

"…don't you know a lot about magic?" When he looked up, he could see Shutaura's deadpan gaze. "You live with a former Magic god, a nun with the knowledge of a 103,000 magic grimories in her head, and have frequent interactions with that side as well."

"Cut the guy some slack." A male voice interrupted the two. "He has enough on his plate trying to absorb everything in Academy city." Turning, Touma was surprised to see someone he knew.

"Informant-san?!" Touma let out a shocked voice, only to find his mouth suddenly covered by the newly-appeared individual before him.

"Shhhh" He shushed the spiky-haired boy. "Technically I am not here."

"Why?" Shutaura folded her arms. "Because you broke in?"

"…not…exactly…"

Seeing Informant turn away from the two, Touma instantly became suspicious. "…what did you do?"

"Oh, me? Nothing. Heh heh." Informant gave an awkward chuckle. "It's just that, technically, I am one of the people who are working here…but the because of Percival, I can't exactly work at the level I want to."

"So, you broke in?"

"Do I actually have to simplify things to that extent?" Informant looked like he was going to cry as he sighed. "…I was demoted from being an active agent, to being a janitor. My name here is Saito, not Informant. That's a fake name, by the way."

Almost immediately, Shutaura held up a hand to her mouth as she looked away, a sound escaping the confines of her hand. "…pft…"

"Don't laugh!" Informant(or Saito) nearly wailed in despair. "Being a janitor is useful, but I hate having to do my job!"

"…because you scrub scum away with a toilet brush?" Shutaura's giggles were more audible now. Her shoulders were also shaking from the effort of trying to not laugh out loud.

"What, that?" Informant blinked. "Nope. That's fine. I can use magic to clean it up pretty easily."

"…What?" Shutaura stopped giggling. She had a shocked look on her face. Touma was feeling the same. "Then, what are you complaining about?"

"I keep walking in on Anti-skill members either talking about the latest take downs they had, them bragging about their wives or girlfriends, or two members of the opposite sex doing the deed." Shutaura and Touma stiffened. "More often than not, its not them making out, but-"

"Alright, alright, we get the idea!" Touma hurriedly covered Informant's mouth with his hand, a heavy blush on his face. Say what you will about him, but he was still a 16-year old hormonal teenager. Any more information, and he had a feeling that his willpower would collapse, which was the only thing that was stopping him from punching the guy in-front of him outright. "No need to elaborate, I get the idea already! Actually, it's a miracle that you were not fired from that job of yours!"

"It's something, right?" Informant's voice came out muffled, so Touma drew away his hand to allow the guy to speak clearer. "Some tried to do so, but I managed to convince them otherwise."

"…I want to ask how you managed to get people to not fire a person who is obviously younger than them by half their age, but I can already imagine the general idea of how you did it." Touma sighed. _Informant's homemade spices are too powerful!_

"Not my fault you guys can't hold your spice." Informant pouted a little, before he dug into the backpack slung across his back. "Oh, before I forget, here."

_Hmm? _Touma blinked when he saw the bundle in Informant's hand. "Is that-"

"Yep." Informant nodded. "This is the armour that Percival gave you. Daybreaker."

"...why the chuni-like name?"

"Well, the name comes from its history." Informant gave a small smile. "I can see why you would think its a chunnibyou name though. It's called Daybreaker because the first time it was used, the person who wore it fended off enemy hordes until day broke the horizon. Pretty lame reason for its name, right?"

"...Pretty much." Touma agreed.

"Well, I'll be guiding you to your safehouse, I'll tell you about its functions later on when I'm off the clock." Informant's eyes turned towards Mie's figure. "...so, that the asset?"

"Yeah." Shutaura cleared her throat. "That's the asset. I assume you would be leading us to our safe house?"

"That's right." Informant nodded. "I'll also be hanging around for a little bit before I leave. But, since time is of the essence, shall we walk?"

..

..

"So, all of you would have full access to certain areas." Informant explained to Shutaura as they walked. "The asset, Akikawa Mie, would be confined to these areas, and there must be at least one of your unit members with her at all times. This is to prevent her from accidentally accessing areas she is not allowed in." Opening a small pouch, he passed Shutaura a paper map. "This map shows the areas you can use, which are highlighted a light yellow. The place you would be staying in would be a bright red square."

"Thank you." Shutaura took the paper. "Then-" Shutaura did not manage to complete her sentence.

"Hey, janitor-san!" A female voice prompted the small group to pause. Turning around, Informant faced the Anti-skill officer who had called out to him, his face becoming expressionless in an instant. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping us." The officer smiled at Informant. "Are you sure you won't help more often?"

"Yeah." Informant's face remained stoic. "I don't have the confidence I would be able to do what I have to in that line of work."

"I see." The officer giggled. "Well, take care. Don't peep in on others, now." Waving at the small group, she retreated, heading elsewhere.

"…" Informant only looked at the female's retreating back, before he sighed, continuing to walk forwards. "As I was saying-"

_That person…likes Informant? _Touma deduced in his mind. Turning his head slightly, he looked at Shutaura. He wanted to talk to her more about what he had just witnessed, but she just stared ahead, eyes not meeting Touma's. …_I guess she is not interested?_

Fortunately for Touma, someone had the same line of thought as him. "Did that person have some feelings for you, mister…" Mie asked from the middle of the group.

"Ah, no. She did not of course." Informant barely glanced at the girl that had asked the question when he replied. "I just helped her cover something up, and we both stumbled across rather…" He trailed off, a small blush on his face, before he coughed. "Anyway, we are just friends. Closer to drinking buddies, really, if you were to be more specific."

"Can you even drink legally?" Touma could not help but ask. After all, the person leading them right now seemed to be around his age.

"Mentally." Came the answer. "Physically, my body is closer to a 18 year old, but mentally, my mind is 20. Welp, my birthday has not passed yet, so technically, I am 19."

"…so, you are a minor drinking alcohol." Shutaura sighed. "I can't even report you, since you are working in the law enforcement sector. You would just find my report, burn it, and probably drink it down with alcohol to mess with me."

"Probably." Informant shrugged, a faint smile on his face. "I like to tease people, especially those who are very uptight or are in the same sector as me."

"Including Yurei-san?" Touma asked.

"Especially him." Informant stopped outside a large building. "Here we are." Turning about to face the small group, he raised his hand, as if he were showing off a building that could be bought by potential buyers. "This is the place you would be staying in."

"…the entire building?" Eyes wide, Mie looked up and down, slowly taking in the 4 levels worth of living area. Touma felt the same. After all, he lives in a one-room apartment, with the largest place he had ever stayed in being a regular house.

"Yep." Informant nodded. "It's actually smaller on the inside. The building's walls are actually pretty thick, even though it was made from materials in Academy City. Inside is just enough room for a group of 20, a small kitchen and dining area, and a digital space which can replicate any sort of environment. It's basically a luxury bunker brough above ground."

"…I want to ask why is there the equivalent of a bunker in the middle of the military district of Academy City, but I'm afraid to find out why." Touma gulped.

"Good choice." Informant patted Touma on the back. "Well, you guys should make yourselves at home. I need to go do some work. If you need to talk, buzz me with this." Informant dug into his pouch, taking out a small rectangular remote with a button in the middle. "Once you press that, I'll arrive within a few minutes."

"Ah, Informant-san." Touma called out to the boy in-front of him just as he was opening the door.

"Yeah?" Informant stopped and turned to face him, leaving the door half-ajar.

"Why did Yurei-san choose for you to be a janitor?"

"Oh, you were curious about that?" Informant smiled lightly. "Well, it's not really a big deal. Percival and I agreed that we need more information, including live information on the movements of law enforcement to reduce the chances of them meeting with a certain group we met sometime back. I had a few options to choose from when infiltrating this place, and I chose this job. It is pretty easy, since all I have to do is just use magic to scrub away the toilets."

"…how is being a janitor helping in your work?"

"Like I said, I'm supposed to be janitor. Well, trained operative currently working as janitor but a janitor nonetheless." Informant pulled on his jersey, revealing a light blue jumpsuit underneath. "Me being a janitor helps with undercover work, since no one would question a janitor in certain areas, but I can only worm my way out of restricted areas with my janitor status." He sighed. "So, when they asked for help, I volunteered. Being a former military personal turned janitor would help raise my level, so I would be able to access some more areas."

"Why not be a security guard?" Touma asked, curiosity plainly showing on his face.

"Too much work." Informant answered curtly. "Plus, most of that line of work is being done by robots. Less manpower needed there, unless you are an engineer. It sounds like there is a less of a hassle, but I'm sure that there will be more eyes on a security guard then a formerly-trained army janitor who wants to relax through his OCD cleaning habits"

"…I see." Touma nodded thoughtfully. _I thought that being a janitor was not that great…maybe he has a point? But, I still want to tsukkomi that being a janitor is more suspicious._

"Well, I'm going to go now." Informant waved, before he stepped out. "Bye."

With a sharp sound, the door closed. Leaving the two people who were at the door alone.

"So…" Touma cleared his throat. "Akikawa-san is looking around, right?"

"Yeah." Shutaura checked her watch. "The rest of my unit should be coming soon. Could I trouble you to prepare food for them as well?"

"I have to see if there are enough ingredients first." Nevertheless, Touma headed towards the kitchen, a small frown on his face. _Let's see…since I would have to cook for 15 plus people, I should probably prepare quite a large assortment of dishes. But, I don't have the time to cook so much food, so I would most likely go for something like a hotpot. In that case, I have to ensure we have enough vegetables and meat for them to eat. And as for the soup base…_

So deep in thought was he, that Touma missed the call that Shutaura had picked up, and the frown that had adorned her face.

As well as the third individual which had stumbled into the room.

* * *

Timeskip

"That was a nice meal!" The woman she spoke to earlier let out a satisfied sigh. "I always thought that hotpots were very bland. Who knew IB could make them so delicious, so filled with umami!"

"Right?" The first male she encountered shovelled some more rice into his mouth with some vegetables, before he spoke, swallowing the contents in his mouth. "Especially these vegetables…I know that they are pretty sweet on their own, but with this sauce he made, it really brings out that natural sweetness!"

"Indeed." A new man Mie had never seen before, one with a large scar running down his face, slowly nodded his face. "The meat has flavour, even though it was boiled in this broth. And the broth itself is very delicious too. It pairs very well with the greens we have. What is in this? Miso? Or pork?"

"It is a pork-based broth, with some chicken fats and miso. And thank you for the praise, but I think this is just below par for me." Slowly chewing some boiled pork, the man(or rather, boy) of the hour swallowed the meat before he continued. "If I had more time, I would have made some eggs and prepped some more different meats that would have gone well."

"""This is below par!?""" Many voices shouted out the same thing at once, causing Mie to cover her ears from the deafening tone.

It also caused an unfortunate accident to happen with IB's food. "Gyah!" Surprised by the sudden shout, he tossed his bowl of soup into the air, which spilled its contents onto his lap. His movements also upstted the plate of food onto his lap…

"HYARGHHH!" …Which was filled with both cold ingredients meant for the hotpot and ice to keep said ingredients cold. That, combined with the hot soup from his bowl, created a rather unique and painful experience for the high schooler to experience.

"Hot! Cold! Hooooot! Coooolld!" IB leapt into the air, the raw and cooked ingredients mixing as it fell to the floor. Hopping from one foot to another, he further forced himself to feel pain as hot soup came into contact with his bare feet.

"Jeez." Sighing, Sequenzia took tossed a towel over to IB, allowing it to land on his head. "Here, use that clean the mess on yourself and the floor. There's also a set of clean clothes for you in the toilet. I thought your misfortune might act up, so I took the liberty of preparing it early for you."

"Thank you for you consideration!" Bowing to Sequenia, IB quickly left the room, leaving behind the rest of the Black Crow Unit and Mie to finish up.

..

..

One by one, everyone left, having had their fill. All of them had different things to attend to. Some had to patrol the area. Others went to sleep, still recovering from injuries they had been inflicted by the crazed teen they had captured earlier that day, A few left the 'house', wanting to have some training competitions with one another.

This left two females remaining, both of them looking at each other in the eyes.

"Thanks for the food." Sequenzia placed her hands together in-front of her empty bowl, before she took a cup of water. Mie eyed the black-haired agent warily.

Gulping down half it's contents, Sequenzia did not even glance at her when she spoke. "You wanted to talk to me." Sequeniza's tone made it sound like a statement, not a question. This surprised Mie at first. "How did you–"

"Your eyes." Sequenzia swirled the water in her cup, looking disinterested in the conversation. "They have not left my body ever since we started eating. Even when Tou-, I mean, IB spilled the food, you only glanced at him for a few seconds, before you resumed your staring at me." She sighed lightly. "If you had stared any harder, it might have bored a hole through me. Next time, don't make it so obvious."

"…thank you for the advice." Despite the timid voice she let out, Mie had numerous feelings raging inside of her like a whirlwind.

Mainly anger.

"So," Sequenzia looked up from her cup. "What did you want to talk about?"

"…I heard overheard your call earlier." Mie's words made Sequenzia freeze slightly. Internally, Mie was a little happy at the response she made. _Feeling guilty? Good._

"That was a private call." Her voice came out slightly tense.

"I overheard you accidently. And, even if I did not, were you going to tell me you found my mother, severely injured in an alley?" Silence met her words. "…thought so."

"…" Sequenzia kept quiet, looking down at the table.

"I heard it you know." Mie decided to let it all out. The feelings she had kept hidden when she saw her father being sent to the hospital. "They said that you guys got information my mom and dad were most likely being targeted, and yet you did nothing until dad was in the hospital."

"…"

"Why didn't you help us earlier?"

"..." Sequenzia kept quiet, looking down at the ground. When Mie saw that, tears gathered at the edges of her eyes.

"...why?" Mie begged. "Why did you only appear when father and mom were severely injured? You could have saved them if you had known they were targeted! Even if you could not have saved father, you could have saved mom!"

"...It was not up to us." Sequenzia finally responded.

"Why?" Mie demanded. "Because you work for the Board of Directors?"

"It is exactly because we work under them that we cannot move carelessly. And above them is the General Superintendent." Sequenzia's words made Mie look at her in shock, her anger momentarily forgotten. … …_The Board of Directors control her? And the General Superintendent is real?! I thought he was a myth!_

"The Board was split on the decision to protect you, Akikawa-san." Sequenzia stood up and walked towards the girl, taking a seat next to her. "On one side, they believed that you should be protected. You had the data that this group wanted, and said data was obtained via Academy City's technology. On the other side, the Board was fine with letting the data slip out of their hands."

"...what..." Mie's mouth felt very dry. _They wanted to...let me get attacked...and allow mom's data to be leaked?_

"Their thought process for that was that even if they managed to obtain the data, what would happen? All they would get is research data. Nothing more, nothing less. If they could understand it's contents, that was a very small loss." Sequeniza took a breath before she continued. "After all, the production of the liquid diamonds was from specialised technology in Academy City. Should they wish to use this data, or even sell it, they would first need to obtain this technology. And since the best technology Academy City produces is not released to the public until at least 5 generations, each with increasing efficiency and cost effectiveness, as well as it being needed to be approved by the Board to be released to the public, they would have little to no chance of replicating the results, unless they managed to meet the minimum requirements to make the liquid diamond."

"And then, there was the project itself. **Liquid diamond.**" Sequenzia stressed the words that made up her mother's project. "This project is under Academy City's watch, yes. But, if it is compared to other scientists, your mother's project would be considered negligible at best. Liquid diamond is a theoretical impossibility. Diamond **can't** be melted into a liquid. And the product tour mother made? It is, in her own words, glorified seawater. The only thing that makes it so valuable would be the millions and millions of minute precious metals inside the glorified seawater. And then, there is its uses. What are there?"

"...little to none…" Mie answered in a quiet voice. She had also realised that her mother's research was practically useless in Academy City. Unless they found a way to use this liquid for some purpose, there is no use for them to save this research. She had known this in her heart, but her mind refused to accept the possibility that the Board would shut down her mother's project. "…does that mean–"

"That said," Sequenzia interrupted Mie's words, giving a small smile as she did so. "What I just said was but a small fraction of the Board. The rest did not feel the same. To them, profits matter as much as the other member, but they would put their own interest first as well. In this case, it would be reducing the chances of data being leaked from a project under Academy city's supervision. Another reason would be that the product is worth millions, but the process to make it is worth at least billions. After all, with this liquid diamond, they would be able to obtain the materials to create objects that would be detrimental to their objectives. Mainly, the creation and possible reengineering of one of Academy city's not-yet-to-be-released-to-the-world products. To make things simple, they classified this project as being under the same category as the latest tech that Academy City produces, and as such, it has to be protected."

"…then, why were you picked to protect me?" Mie asked. "Why not Anti-skill?"

"First, Anti-skill is to mainly protect the students and scientists here. If they had the resources to protect you, you would have most likely been protected by them. Even if Academy City a technologically advanced city that is ahead of the world by 30 years, it has the same problems as every other city or nation around the world. One of them being a shortage in staff." Sequenzia folded her arms. "That is part of the reason we were chosen to protect you."

"…and the other?" Mie sensed that there was more to the explanation, so she held off on asking more questions then necessary.

She might find them answered by the person in question after all.

"This group after you…it has espers."

"!"

"We have no clue if one of the directors hired a group of thugs and performed the process on them to turn them into loyal espers for him to use, or if they come from a different organisation. But one thing is for sure. This situation falls under threats outside of Academy city. And this unit," She indicated to a small symbol on her upper arm, something that she had not noticed before. "means that we are the Black Crow Unit. A unit solely creates to act under the protection of Academy City from threats outside of Academy city, or to protect individuals at the behest of the Board."

"Now, this information I am telling you is strictly confidential, so most likely they would get the fifth ranked level 5 esper, Mental out, to wipe your memories pertaining to this information I am telling you." Shutaura paused, picking up a fork. "IB, if you don't come out, I'm throwing this at your most sensitive area as a man."

"Please leave this Kam-, I mean, IB-san's most precious place alone!" The boy in question quickly slid into a dogeza, jumping out from his previous hiding spot.

Sighing, Sequenzia placed down the fork. "Honestly, did you have to listen in on this private conversation between ladies?"

"It was but an accident!" IB spoke with his head still down. Somehow, Mie could hear IB clearly, even though his mouth was basically pressed against the floor, what with how close he was too it. "This IB was just coming back after washing his clothes and body to continue eating and wash up when he chanced upon the lady's conversation."

"…" Sequenzia stared at IB for a few moments longer, before she let out a breath. "…you know what? Screw it."

_Eh? _Mie blinked in confusion as she saw the black-haired leader of the unit protecting her run a hand through her hair. As she did so, she saw a small streak of pink appear. _…what is that? Did Academy city make a new hair dye that can change colours like a chameleon?_

"Akikawa-san, I'll be blunt." Sequenzia stood up, walking past the still-in-a-dogeza IB. She peeked out of the door, checking the hallway, before she shut it firmly, locking it and activating a device she took out of her pocket for good measure. "What I am about to say, you would most likely have your memories of it wiped. But, because it will be wiped by **her**, I will just come out with a few things."

"… …okay?" Mie leaned back a bit, unsure of where this was all going.

"IB's real name is Kamijjou Touma." Sequenzia poured herself some liquid out of a ceramic bottle. Like any Japanese, she instantly recognised it to be a container of sake. _By the smell…it's quite weak. Does Sequenzia-san like the taste of alcohol? Or rather, should she even be drinking on the job? Since she has to protect me?_

Seeing her stare, Sequenzia took a swing of her cup's contents, before she started to explain. "I'm not supposed to be drinking right now, but this is to make my lips looser. Otherwise, I would just end up being too uptight. Now, where was I…" Sequenzia frowned, before she snapped her fingers. "Ah, right. Kamijou's name. Well, IB is Kamijou Touma. That's his real name, like I said earlier. Anyway, one of the reasons I call him the codename IB is to prevent his life from getting even more out of hand. By all rights, he should not even be here, helping me with protecting you. But life is unfair." She paused, taking the time to refill her cup, before she continued. "You saw his misfortune act up earlier, yeah?" Not waiting for a response, she took a sip from her cup before she continued. "Most people would say that luck is just a set of probabilities. You being 'unlucky' is just superstition. The 'right' answer is that you got the probability of being hit by falling bird poop." She made some air quotes around the words 'right' and 'unlucky'.

"Normally, a person from this place would be correct. That unfortunate person rolled the wrong number, and hit the probabilities which caused him to end up in this predicament." Rolling her eyes, Sequenzia nudged the boy in question with her free hand. "Well, anything and everything related to luck and the natural laws get turned upside down with this idiot right here."

"Please, don't call me that." IB(I mean, Kamijou) moaned. "I already have a bad attendance, I know that! But, it's not as if I can choose when trouble and misfortune strikes meeee!"

"You can get up now, you know." Ignoring Kamijou's small cheer, Sequenzia took another sip from her cup. "Somehow, his luck is so bad, it's become a law taken form. You know," she glanced into the air, thinking. "Mathew's…no, is it Maxis? Ah right. Murphy's Law. Yep, his life is basically the personification of that law." She nodded. "Whatever ca go wrong, will go wrong."

"I highly doubt that is true." Mie found those words leaving her mouth faster than she could blink. Yet, as she thought more about it, every time she met with Kamijou-san, he ended up in some sort of bad situation.

The first time they met, he had fallen on his face. She vaguely remembered something about a banana peel cliché there.

Then, the next time was when she was woken up. She recalled Kamijou-san saying he got hit with ice-cold water, combined with still-solid ice cubes.

And now, not but a quarter hour ago, when he was having a nice dinner, the cold, raw ingredients and hot soup he had prepared for himself ended up being spilled on his lap.

If one were to look at all of these situations together…..

_Yeah, Kamijou-san seems to be the personification of Murphy's Law, multiplied by a hundred. _Mie thought that that was all, but Sequenzia ploughed on.

"And that is not even the worst part!" Sequenzia cried out. "Somehow, his luck is so horrible, he ends up in so many misunderstandings. Especially with the female populace. You would not believe how many times he ended up in the hospital because of a girl. I think…the last count was 10. And all of them caused him to be in the intensive care unit for a few hours."

"H-how did you know that?" Said patient stuttered, but the girl who had mercilessly spilled his medical history continued on.

"And then don't even get me started on the last World War and its aftermath." Sighing, Sequenzia took one last sip from her cup, before she pushed it away. "He was in the middle of the entire fiasco. And what did he get in return? An all-expense trip to Death's doorstep, at least 7 times! Some of them from Aacdemy city, where he studies!"

"…I'm confused." Indeed, Akikawa Mie was very confused. About many things. The captain of the unit protecting her…when drunk, had very, very loose lips. And, from the looks of it, her personality changed to a very loud one as well.

"This person right here," Sequenzia massaged the bridge of her nose as she spoke. "was once a target that Academy City designated."

"Eh?" Mie's eyes swam. _Wait wait wait, this person working with Sequenzia-san was an enemy once?_

"But he managed to clear the charges levelled against him. After the equivalent of a tactical missile , two level 5s, the American government, and various other organisations, including the terrorist organisation Gremlin, was sent after him. And, this was all because he was thought to be working for the organisation, despite not having any contact with them because he lives in Academy City, which was one of Gremlin's targets."

"Eh?...Eh?..." Mie's eyes swam so much, they became nothing more than in circles. _A tactical missile? He faced wo level 5s and lived? And he worked with Gremlin?! What is with this sudden information dump on me! I'm just a highschool girl! I should not have to face this sort of thing unless I work in government, and even then, it should not be information so sensitive it can be declared as a national secret!_

Ironically, this was what Touma was thinking at the same time, as did the other resident in Shutaura's head.

* * *

It took a few more minutes of Sequeniza's rambling before Mie finally left the room.

"Haaaah…" Shutaura sighed heavily once more, before she peered down at the cup. She could see a small glimmer of the remaining sake.

"_You know, you should stop drinking so much you know." _A small image of a pinkette appeared in her mind's eye. _"This is becoming a bad habit of yours. Drinking, even if it is a little, makes you more open minded, yes, but it also makes you weak in…certain areas."_

_Let me enjoy this, Arisa. _Shutaura blearily gazed around the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Touma's form clearing up the remains of the hot pot, putting the unused food into container to be stored away. _Plus, it's not as if my actions would dull in the slightest._

"_Your mind might not dull," _Arisa pouted cutely. _"but your body's actions would become slower."_

_One of the benefits of having two mind's in one body I guess? _Shutaura briefly thought about her ability to take in alcohol once again.

It was actually something that was an accident at first. During a party she had to attend while on a mission, she accidentally ingested some strong liquor. It was so strong, it was known to have felled men who drank three cups of the stuff. It got the name 'Cerberus' as a result of the '3-cup, sure KO' rule that had popped up around the drink.

And yet, Shutaura downed 5 cups of the stuff no problem. Her body's movements were sluggish, and her actions became unrestrained. Yet, her mind was as clear as before she had even begun drinking.

So, Shutaura experimented. Asking for the members of her unit who could hold their liquor, they hosted a drinking contest of free flow alcohol. Of course, this was after ensuring they would not have an missions for the coming days to ensure that they would be completely sober, thoughts clear when they had to go for a mission.

The results…were completely in her win. Entirely. She managed to drink twice the amount of alcohol that her men and women competitors had drunk, combined. And her mind was still coherent enough for her to precisely answer the questions thrown at her. Although her movements did not respond exactly to her commands.

"_Don't try to abuse it!" _Arisa stomped her foot in her mind, before she disappeared from her sight. But her voice remained. _"Why are you still drinking anyway?"_

_Can't a girl enjoy a drink every now and then? _Feeling a little grumpy, Shutaura took another sip from her cup, before she refilled it, watching the last of the watered-down sake drop into her cup.

"Anoh…" Touma called out to the girl hesitantly. "Shutaura-san, are you okay? You have been drinking an awful lot of alcohol ever since I came back…"

"I am, hic, fine." Shutaura was surprised her voice was slightly slurred, and that she had hiccupped. _Did I take too much?_

"Shutaura-san, you don't look fine!" Touma hurriedly moved from his place to rush towards her side, but Shutaura waved him off.

"I am fine." She said, this time in a firmer tone. "My mind is clear, so even if I look like, hic, this, every action I make is under my coherent thoughts."

"If you say so…" Despite his disbelieving gaze, Touma indeed stopped moving towards the girl.

"Good." With some effort, Shutaura shifted into a much more comfortable sitting position. "How about we talk about the three who were after Akikawa Mie."

* * *

**AN**

**Well, this is another chapter. Hope you are all enjoying this series!**

**Apologies for the late update. When I tired to update it, my file could not be opened. Turns out, my thumbdrive that I'm keeping my documents in got corrupted. Well, at least I have two other back ups, so I had to just redo my editing again.**

**But first off, I want to talk about Informant. And Percival.**

**Informant's job might be a little iffy for some people, but that explanation was a little forced, if I have to break it down. It made some sense, but it was forced. Cause, let's be real. Being a janitor allows you to go to many places, including restricted areas if they are lucky. Most of the time, a person would not bat an eye at a janitor in your military installation/police station scrubbing away at the toilets. That being said, they would raise an eyebrow if they go into an area full of confidential info, hence my 'forced' bit.**

**And from a military point of view, being a trained Janitor is definitely suspicious, but if they are surrounded by robots which are hard to hack that can shoot them down in a moment's notice, as well as trained personnel who use the latest killing machines, then this is more of an acceptable risk than letting a trained security guard enter the armoury and edit security footage at a whim.**

**As for Percival…I re-read some of my chapters, and thought 'yeah, he is too OP'. Then again, I have a few other restrictions I have not disclosed yet. He has time limit and ability limit revealed, so that's two out of the five restrictions I have on him. If I were to not reveal too much…he is a glass cannon compared to Touma, who is like a weapon with two stages.**

**I ended this chapter on a small cliffy. Thought it was a nice place to end. **

**Anime is Life, and please review!**


	21. Talks and Breaches

_italics_ \- thoughts

**Bold** \- Emphasis

_**Italics Bold**_ \- Magic names or titles

"normal" - speech

**"**** underlined bold ****"** \- Mental transmissions

Underlined \- Flashback

**{Bold}**\- Magic spells or abilities

**Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create**

Note: Arisa's speech(mentally) would be denoted like this: _"hi"_ , while Shutara's would be: _hello_

* * *

**Chapter 20: Talks and Breaches**

"Let's talk about Akikawa Mie."

Shutaura's sudden proposal caused Touma to stiffen up slightly, before he relaxed.

"…Do you have a video with better quality?" Touma continued his clearing of the remains of the hot pot. "Also, can we contact Index and Othinus? They are better versed with magic-related things compared to me." _After all, I am an amateur at these types of things._

"…Sure thing." Shutaura tapped on her phone for a few seconds, before she passed it over to Touma. "This is the video."

Taking it, Touma watched the video again. This time, it was much clearer than the one he had watched back in his apartment. He was silent for a few minutes as he watched the video, before he opened his mouth.

"...I think it is a fusion of espers and magicians." Touma squinted at the paused frame of the video. "One of them seems to be manipulating water, so I think that is the esper. The one who is touching the box, as well as the one who broke the camera, seem to be magicians."

"Thank you for your assessment." Plucking the device from his hands, Shutaura began to call Index.

"…why is it a video call? Or rather, can she even answer it?"

"For the second question, I, or rather Arisa, gave her a new phone, as well as some instructions attached to it. Thankfully, it has a video call function. For the first question, the answer is simple. It would allow them to see the video faster wouldn't it?" Shutaura did not look up as she continued to look at the device. "And as a bonus, we would be able to listen to their analysis instead of waiting for them to reply back."

"…" Touma kept quiet at that. Though, part of it was because his heart was recovering from the painful merciless arrows that had been shot at him by Shutaura's reasoning. _I just hope Index picks up the phone. Well, it should be fine, since Othinus is there…_

***click***

"**Hello?" **Index's pale blue-silver hair and green eyes covered the entire screen. **"Is this thing on?"**

"Hello Index." Shutaura gave a warm smile towards the nun. "We called to ask you a few questions."

"**Arisa!" **Index's face shrunk. **"Ah, wait a minute. Let me…how do I do this?"**

"**Ravenous nun, allow me."** Othinus made her way to the screen. Using her feet, she pressed a few buttons(presumably) before she stepped a few steps back to allow Index to come back to the screen. **"Here. That should do it."**

"**Wow!" **The two people that had called them could have sworn that sparkles appeared in Index's eyes. **"I can see Touma and Arisa! Hi!"**

"Hi again Index." Shutaura's smile became smaller. "Could you and Othinus help us? We are investigating a possible interference from the Magic side. Problem is, their abilities are quite similar to esper abilities, so we need an expert's eye."

"**You made the right choice then."** Othinus folded her arms. **"Show us this video. From start to finish."**

Shutaura obliged, picking another device to show them the video.

After it played…

"**I see…"** Othinus nodded. **"From the looks of it, the one standing at the rear is a Magician, as well as water manipulator. Nun, what are your thoughts?"**

"**I agree with this former magic goddess." **For the first time in a while, Index's eyes were serious. **"The one at the rear seems to be a archer, while the one in the front seems to be using a pseudo god as the base of their magic."**

"Pesudo-god?" Touma was confused. "That's rare right?"

"**Not as much as you think, Touma." **Index frowned, looking at the spiky-haired boy. **"Magicians used any act from the past as the base of their magic. It can come from the act of gods, like when mankind was gifted with flames by the titan Promenthus to give knowledge from one person to another, or when Osiris was brought back to life as an undead god to resurrect a person. Or, it can come from acts of man that was later revered by others as a god, or did acts befitting a god. Like Hercules holding the sky in place of the Titan Atlas, which could be use to punish someone, or like Moses, when he parted the sea to allow a person to go across a body of water. You need to learn more about magic."**

_I would, but Academy city is a place of Science. You won't find that many materials about the mythologies or the occult here. _Touma gave a wry smile, an aura of depression around him forming shortly after. _Plus, I am on the verge of being held back a grade! Somebody…help meeeeeee!_

"So, what are their abilities?" Shutaura asked, pointedly ignoring the aura of depression that was looming over the boy beside her.

"**Erm…" **Index paused, deep in thought, before she opened her mouth. **"The person who is using the pseudo god as their base is using Yu the Great, a ancient Chinese emperor, as its base. There are a number of things they could do from this base." **

"**Hey, nun." **Othinus interrupted Index. **"It would be better if you just summarise them. It would be faster for them to gather plans to combat them."**

"**Okay…" **Index pouted, but she obliged to Othinus's command. **"So, the first thing would be the ability to fight on equal footing with the opponent whenever there is water related to it. Because of his feat of managing to control floods in China, the magician could use a medium to redirect any attack directed at him as long as there is water involved. Most likely, that medium would be a pipe or a shovel. They could also use the principle of him working alongside others that were of a lower status then him to forcibly bring their opponents down to their level, or even less then that."**

"**Then, he could also have a spiritual item in the shape of an axe. There once a story of him using a divine axe to split an entire mountain in half to allow water to flow, so there is that possibility as well." **Index frowned. **"That is all the things I can think of."**

"Thanks Index." Touma thanked the nun. "What about the other magician?"

"**I'm not sure." **Index narrowed her eyes. **"Because she only an arrow to destroy the camera, I don't have a grasp of her magic. But, if I had to guess…she could be using the base of the Greek Goddess of the hunt, Artemis."**

_Another Greek deity… _Touma's thought's flashed back to the first magician he had met with Percival. **"Artemis had a bow with her that was crafted by Cyclops. It was one of her many symbols. If a bow was used as a spiritual item, as well as her body being a medium…she could be a priestess of Artemis, with a fraction of the Moon Goddess's archery skill and her powers. She could have used the principle of the computers being the 'prey' that she was hunting, and used it to allow her to locate it, as well as carry it back to their base."**

"Thanks for the help." Shutaura waved to the nun. "Bye."

"**Bye Arisa! Come over to play sometime soon, okay?" **With a click, the screen turned black, signalling the end of the call. All was quiet for a few moments as they digested the information they had just learned.

"…so, that just leaves the esper?" Touma broke the comfortable silence first. _So, someone who can forcibly bring another to their level, as well as another who has the skills to hunt prey accurately in the dead of night. _"Now we know how they are finding Akikawa-san, so we could lay a trap against them."

"…yeah." Shutaura's voice sounded distant. "we could lay a trap for them…find out their objectives for the liquid diamond…"

"Shutaura-san, are you okay?" Touma frowned slightly. "You seem a little off."

"…I'm fine." Shutuara grabbed the ceramic cup once more, downing it's contents with one gulp. "I just need a drink…"

"No more alcohol for you, Shutaura-san." Acting quickly, Touma grabbed the other sake bottle before she could grab it, having seen her eye the white bottle of sake for a while now.

"You make me sound like a drunkard." Shutaura's words were slurring slightly, despite the fact that her eyes were crystal clear.

"You sound like one right now." Exasperated, Touma grabbed onto Shutaura's arm, pulling her up. "Come on, let's get you to bed. Your mind might be fine, but your body sure does not look like its okay."

"…M'kay…" Shutaura sighed a little. "I guess I might have drunk too much…"

"It's good that you realised it then." Touma moved to support her to her room, which was located on the second floor, thankfully. The same floor they were on. "Let's go." He felt some resistance, causing him to stop. "…Shutaura-san?"

That was when his sights went black, and he felt a warm presence on his lips.

* * *

A few minutes prior

"**Bye Arisa! Come over to play sometime soon, okay?" **With that, the call ended.

_Hear that Arisa? _Shutaura smiled lightly. _You should visit Index soon._

"_I will." _Arisa's familiar voice echoed in her head. _"You want to come with?"_

…_I won't intrude on your gathering. Shutting her eyes, _Shutaura conjured a mental image of herself, before she shook 'her' head. _Besides, I would most likely have paperwork to do that day, or I could have a mission to do._

"_Don't be so stuffy!" _Once more, Arisa created a miniature version of herself, placing it at the edge of her vision. _"You should take a break every now and then. You also know that I have access to your memories as well, right?"_

… Shutaura kept quiet, choosing not to answer Arisa's question.

"_I know you have been training ever since you woke up in the hospital." _Arisa crossed her arms over her chest, emphasising them slightly. _"It's not healthy to just train all the time. And you can't say that you doing running is your way of taking a break, or going to the range to shoot is either! I know your thoughts too."_

…_tsk. _Shutaura clicked her tongue mentally. _I thought I would be able to convince you with that._

"-so we could lay a trap against them." Shutaura managed to bring herself out of the mental conversation with Arisa.

"…yeah." Shutaura pushed Arisa to the back of her mind. Literally, since Arisa was little more than a small conscious right now. "we could lay a trap for them…find out their objectives for the liquid diamond…"

"Shutaura-san, are you okay?" Touma frowned slightly. "You seem a little off."

"…I'm fine." Shutuara grabbed the ceramic cup once more, downing it's contents with one gulp. "I just need a drink…"

"_No more drinking for you, Shutaura!" _Arisa was frowning now, a hint of anger on her face. _"You have been drinking too much ever since you spilled the information to Akikawa-san!"_

_Oh, leave me alone. _Shutaura wanted to sigh, but she remembered something she once heard about sighing reducing one's lifespan, she refrained from doing so. Instead, she began to eye the other bottle of sake she had brought as she drank the last dregs of the one in her cup.

"No more alcohol for you, Shutaura-san." Acting quickly, Touma grabbed the other sake bottle before she could grab it.

_Dang. _Shutaura grumbled in her mind. _Looks he got it before I could get it._

"_Your drinking is reaching rather…unhealthy levels for our body, Shutaura." _Arisa sighed. _"You drank a bottle of gin two days ago, and last night, you downed a few bottles of Vodka. If you continue, we might actually get addicted and become dependent on alcohol. Like what you are right now. Just…less prone to the act of drinking."_

"You make me sound like a drunkard." Despite the fact that Shutaura had meant to talk to Arisa mentally, it slipped out of her mouth. It was also when she realised her words were slurring slightly, despite the fact that her mind was clear.

"_See? You sound like one right now." _

"You sound like one right now." Both Touma and Arisa both unintentionally said similar things to the currently drinking captain of the Black Crow unit. An exasperated look on his face, Touma grabbed onto Shutaura's arm, pulling her up. "Come on, let's get you to bed. Your mind might be fine, but your body sure does not look like its okay."

"…M'kay…" Shutaura sighed a little. "I guess I might have drunk too much…" _Maybe I mixed up the diluted one and the potent one the other members use?_

"_If that were the case, then we can hold our liquor. I'd rather think the reason we are like this is because we were to tense up." _Arisa groaned lightly. _"Which reminds me, you need to stop drinking!"_

_Because you think Kamijou sees me as you? _Shutaura barely managed to refrain from rolling her eyes. _ Please, like that is actually true. I know you have feelings for him, but I don't think he sees me as you. He sees us as two different individuals, okay?_

"…" Arisa kept quiet at that. If she were in her mind's eye, Shutaura would have bet she had a heavy blush on her face.

"It's good that you realised it then." Touma moved to support her to her room, which was located on the second floor, thankfully. The same floor they were on. "Let's go."

"_You know what?" _For some reason, a dark tint appeared around her eyes. _"I had it. You have access to my memories, I know that. I can live with that. But for you to do this…I'm taking over! "_

Shutaura had only one thing to say to that. … …_Eh?_

"_No more with being sidelined!" _With a battle cry, the dark aura tinting her vision started to push Shutaura's consciousness back, surprising her immensely.

_Wa-wait! You can do this!? _Shutaura tried with all her might to stop Arisa from taking control, but found that the pinkette's will was stronger than hers. _Of all the times to for her to be stronger than me…_

Sighing, Shutaura partially resigned herself to having to sit back and allow Arisa to take control of her body.

.

This was not new to Shutaura. Sometimes, because of time constraints (as well as witnesses being around), they had to stick to one body instead of splitting up to do whatever they wanted. They found that the experience of the one who was not in control of the body, but was in the said body, was very similar to watching a movie, or looking at things from a third-party point of view.

_What are you going to do? _Shutaura asked the pinkette. Due to her sudden takeover, their body had stayed in place, refusing Touma's initial tug. _Kamijou is going to think something is up._

"…Shutaura-san?" As she watched, Touma pulled her arm back a little, allowing him to look at the girl clearly.

"_This." _Arisa pressed her head against Touma's.

_Wha- _Eyes wide, Shutaura would have spat out water had she been drinking some. _Wha-what are you doing!?_

"_Kissing him." _Arisa explained as if it were natural.

_With attempted tongue!? _Shutuara wanted to bury herself in a hole. _…and you did it in my body too…now I can't get married…_

"_Oh please, don't act as if you had thought seriously about marriage when you became a member of the Black Crow unit." _Arisa's words had a ring of truth to them.

..

..

As he watched, Touma's vision began to have a hint of pink in them. But of course, his brain was mainly focusing on the feeling at his mouth.

"Ha…" With a sigh, a significantly more pink-haired Shutaura pulled away from Touma. "Sorry Touma, I wanted to do that for a while now."

Touma recognised that voice, even though the face staring at him now was Shutaura's. "Arisa-san…"

"He he." She giggled, pulling back from the boy. Surprisingly, all the lethargic movements he saw from earlier were gone. "I know you have a girlfriend, but allow me this one kiss please. Think of it as…you reward for saving us."

With those parting words, Arisa skipped out of the room, pausing only to press a button on a machine. Turning back, she winked at the dumbfounded boy, before she shut the sliding door, leaving Touma to his thoughts.

Absentmindedly, he brought his hand to his lips. _Shutaura…or was it Arisa? She did not smell like alcohol at all…even though she drank so much…_

Touma stayed in this position for a little while longer, before he continued with clearing up the remains of the hotpot and going to bed. But his thoughts never left the figure of Arisa(and Shutaura).

Not even once.

* * *

When they were face-to-face, Shutaura did only one thing.

_Why did you do thaaaaaatttt!_

Wincing, Arisa covered her ears reflexively at the mental yell aimed at her.

Shortly after Arisa got into bed, her consciousness was about to drift into a blissful sleep, but a sharp pain forced her onto a cold surface.

When she regained her bearings, all she could see was that she was inside a small room, with a pair of chairs and sofas.

Then, her eyes met the ones of Shutaura.

Which now leads us to the present.

"_Say what?" _Arisa played dumb.

_Say that you had been waiting a long time to do that! _As she watched, Shutaura placed both her hands atop her head. _Arrghhh! That makes us sound like sluts!_

"_Why do you care?" _Arisa scoffed, not looking at her sister. _"It's not as if you like him."_

_But you kissed him after I drunk so much! _Shutaura brought her knees up to her chest, hugging herself tightly in the corner of the room. _Now whenever we meet each other, all he is going to think about is the fact that I am an underage girl who is an alcoholic!_

"… …" Arisa narrowed her eyes. This was not normal behaviour for her sister at all. Usually, she was more cold, less expressive towards others.

Well, compared to before they merged, there was a significant improvement regarding her emotions, but when they were on a mission like now, she would be more professional. Yet… here she was, acting like a typical girl after an embarrassing moment that would want to make them act in a tsundere way.

"_Shutaura, you are acting like a maiden in love who had her first kiss unfairly taken due to circumstances you can't control." _Arisa finally sighed, having figured out the reason for Shutaura's odd behaviour.

…_huh? _It took a bit before Shutaura got back to her senses. But, when she took in her sister's words, she began to blush up a storm. _Wha-what are you talking about? I'm no maiden in love!_

"_Say what you want, but you are acting exactly like one." _Breathing out, Arisa sat down next to Shutaura. _"You know, ever since we met Kamijou again, you have been out of it."_

_What do you mean?_ Shutaura lifted her face to glare at Arisa. _I have been acting like I always have._

"_Up until today, yes." _Arisa felt some hopeless feeling well up inside her. _"But, after we meet Kamijou again, and this time, when I kissed him, you acted differently."_

_O-of course I would! _Shutaura defended herself. _You kissed him inside my body!_

"_Which should not fluster you to this extent." _Arisa paused, thinking on her next words. _"…you…how do you feel about Kamijou?"_

… …_please elaborate._

"_I mean, what do you feel when you think about him in general."_

_Well… _Shutaura's blush, which had faded, came back, dusting her face with a light red. _Whenever I think about him, I get this sense of security and protectiveness….and my heart flutters a little, I guess?_

"_That confirms it." _Arisa patted her sister's arm. _"You love him."_

_H-huh?_

"_Your body is responding the same way mine does whenever I think of him." _Arisa gave a faint smile. _"So, it means that you also like him, no?"_

…_how is this possible? _Shutaura wedge her head between her knees and chest. _Kamijou has a girlfriend…and yet…why do I still have these feelings? _

"_It's okay to have these feelings you know." _Shutaura raised her head a little, looking at Arisa. _"Just because we have these feelings, that does not mean we have to act on them. We can bury them, let them fester in our heart as a unrequited love, whatever." _Arisa smiled. "_I get that you are confused, since you have never experienced this sort of thing before. I haven't to. So, why don't we take this a step at a time?"_

…_okay. _Shutaura nodded her head, causing Arisa to giggle. _…what?_

"_Nothing." _Arisa giggled a little softer. _"I don't thin either would have thought I would be playing a councillor for you, who is literally my half."_

…_Life works in mysterious ways…doesn't it? _Shutaura gave a wry smile.

* * *

Timeskip

"Oi! Get up!" Touma felt someone shaking him.

_Huh? _Bearily, he opened his eyes. "I…Informant-san?"

"They are here." Those words caused him to shoot out of bed in shock.

"What!?" Touma's drowsiness went away quickly. "That was too fast!"

"They are magicians, so what do you expect? A week where you could plan and prepare?" Informant scoffed as he watched Touma wear his uniform, his only set of clothes. "Oh, don't forget to wear Daybreaker."

"I won't…speaking of, what are it's abilities?" Touma eyed the flexible armour as he put it over his body.

"It's basically a power suit that Academy City uses." Informant took out a sheet of paper. "Hold on…let me read this…I forgot some of it's functions…"

…_you forgot? _Touma deadpanned at Informant.

"Erm…right, here it is." Clearing his throat, Informant began to tell Touma it's capabilities, while also leading him out the door of his room. "Wearing Daybreaker would give you enhanced speed and strength. It also protects you from bullets completely, but it's magic defensive capabilities are on the low side."

"It can defend against magic?" Touma was surprised.

"All the equipment me and Percival have can protect us from both Magic and Science attacks." Informant explained as they went down the stairs. "Your suit is better suited against Science attacks, since your hand is better suited for magic and esper fights. Anyway, it also has some increased healing abilities, so if you get inflicted with poison or get severe hits, your body would be healed. But, the drugs used to boost your body's healing is rather hard to find, so don't get injured too often. And lastly but not least…your suit has the abil-"

Whatever Informant was about to say was cut off rather forcibly by a large torrent of water smashing down the front door and hitting the hallway. As Informant had been directly in front of Touma, and not at the corner of the hallway, he got hit by the full blast.

"Informant-san!" Seeing the dirty-brown haired teen get blasted by a blue liquid, he stretched out his hand as a reflex. With a sound of shattering glass, part of the water torrent disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a soaking wet Informant.

"Kaf kaf." Informant hacked out the water that had entered his lungs, slowly standing back up. He had been forced down by the onslaught of water. "Damn…that had…the force of…kah…a sudden flood."

"Pretty spot on." A female voice said in a disinterested tone. Eyes narrowing, Touma turned to see a robed-wearing girl. It covered most of her body, but her top was exposed, revealing a white tank top. "That was actually water blasted at you with the force of an average sudden flash flood."

"Who are you?" Touma placed himself between the new girl and Informant. "What do you want?"

"Mm…call me… Yu Long." The girl grinned, revealing sharp canines. "It means Jade Dragon, I guess? Not too sure how well my translation is."

"**There is no need to give your name, Jade." **A horribly distorted voice made it's way into everyone's ears. **"Just your code name, or part of it would have been more than enough."**

A gleam of metal shone under the sunlight, revealing a robot's head. **"Hello, Kamijou Touma." **Stepping into the house, he revealed his form. This time, it's legs were covered in metal greaves, and it had a gun and sword strapped to its back and side respectively.

"Dom…" Touma muttered, tightening his fist. _Shit. I can't fight something like him! I can only hope his weapons are magic items, otherwise I won't be able to protect Informant-san!_

***clank* *clank* *clank* **

Slowly, the android began to approach the duo, the cylinder in it's centre whirling. With each step, a sound of metal on metal was made. With each step, Dom got closer to Touma and Informant.

***clank , clank* *thunk***

_Hmm? _Touma was surprised by the new sound. Apparently, so was the android, for he stopped, bending down its 'head' to look at what had made that sound.

"…**what's thi-" **Whatever the robot was about to say, was lost.

Because he was engulfed in an explosion.

***DOOOOONNNN***

Ground shaking, a large explosion occurred from underneath Dom's feet, covering his entire frame with pale blue flames. Unfortunately, it also propelled the flames outwards. Right towards the open-mouthed Touma.

"Wah!" Acting on reflex, Touma brought out his right hand. The moment it touched his hand, the flames were dispelled, a sound of shattering glass the only thing that ever showed it had contacted with Touma's skin.

_Thank goodness it was magic. _Touma felt a few beads of cold sweat drip down the side of his face. _Had it been from the Science side, like a mine, I think I might be severely injured. I trust the armour that Yurei-san gave me, but I don't want to put it to the test this soon!_

"**What is…" **thanks to the blue flames engulfing the cyborg, his voice was coming out a little more distorted. **"How is this-"**

"You fell into my trap, idiot."

Informant coughed up water, slowly getting onto his feet. "Since you are a robot, I thought using heat against you would cause your machine parts to get fried from the excessive heat. Looks like you are fine though…Ah~" Informant sighed, wringing out his wet shirt as he did so. "Even though I prepared such a nice gift for you, this is how you repay me?"

"…**I see." **The flames surrounding Dom died down, revealing that his despite his body being a red-hot colour, it was rapidly cooling down to it's usual silver colour. **"You used a Molotov, and a talisman."**

"Nice guess." Informant took out a few more pieces of paper, before they fell out of his hand, limp. "…ah, damn. They are wet."

"**What would you do now?" **Touma could hear a hint of smugness in Dom's voice. **"Use your wet papers to suffocate me? Hang on, I'm in a robot, so you can't do that."**

"Hm…" When Touma turned to look at him, he was surprised. Informant looked like he was considering Dom's suggestion! "Well, I could do that, but…this works!"

***splat***

"…**what?" **Stumbling backwards in surprise, Dom tried to pry off the wet pieces of papers that were once talismans from his head. But, due to his robot hand's being blunted ends, he could not get them off completely. **"Curses!" **

"Come on!" Informant turned the corner, grabbing Touma's hand as he did so. "While he is distracted, let's get Akikawa-san out of here!"

"What was that?" Touma shrugged himself out of Informant's loose grip, running beside the dirty-haired boy.

"A molotov." As they ran, Informant took out a radio that was attached to his hip. "To be precise, a alcohol and sulphur Molotov, with an enhancement talisman attached to it. When Dom stepped on the bottle, he released it's contents. And, when the talisman sensed the change in state, it enhanced it's effects magically, which was why you were able to dispel it with Imagine Breaker."

"I'd rather you tell me these things earlier, otherwise my arm might have been burnt into a crisp…" Touam muttered, but Informant ignored the spiky haired boy, instead bringing the radio to his lips. "Okay. All clear. Sequenzia-san, please bring Akikawa-san out of the premises. My group, fire at will. Bring that hunk of metal into an enclosed room!"

* * *

"**Grah!" **Dom yelled in frustration, finally turning towards the female magician he had came in with. **"Jade, could you get this off me!?"**

"….pft. Sure." Stifling a laugh, the girl raised her spiritual weapon, an axe, towards the cyborg, before making a waving motion with it.

Appearing from thin air, literal gallons of water rushed into the house, flooding it nearly instantly, and causing Dom to stumble a little.

"**Woah there!" **Dom acted quickly, digging it's feet into the wooden floor, while jamming it's axe-shield into a doorframe. **"…thanks for the help. Although, you could have just walked up to me and helped me peel it off."**

"It is dangerous around you." As she said that, Dom watched Jade walked away from the cyborg. "I'm going to hide now."

"**What on earth are you-"** That was as far as Dom was able to speak before he felt a small impact against his chest. **"….this is?"**

***Bang Bang Bang***

"**What?!" **Dom was forced to take a step back at the sudden onslaught of bullets. And another. And another. Try as he might, he was forced to take a step back every time he took a few dozen bullets to his body. Even using his shield did nothing for him, for it was not big enough to cover his frame. **"Jade, you knew about this!"**

"Of course." The girl nonchalantly replied. As he watched, she summoned a constantly swirling mass of water around her, rendering any of the bullets that were aimed at her, or ricocheted towards her, useless as it hit the debris that was trapped in the water. "If I can sense their presences, that should mean you should be able to, no? After all, you have more sensors then me."

"**Never mind that! Just help me out!" **

**.**

Dom was a cyborg. That was something he knew, and had come to terms with. But… …that did not mean he was invincible, despite what he had endured and fought against.

His armour plating may be made of a combination of the hardest minerals and substances known and unknown to man, and his body may be made of the most durable, yet hardy materials known to man, but his body could still be broken or forced to stop moving due to wear and tear. And right now, his armour was going to expose his innards. More specifically, his wiring.

Normally, this would not pose a problem. After all, his circuits and electronic parts were all covered in non-conductive materials. But it had a flaw.

That being that it was weak to water. More specifically, mineral-rich water.

This material, when exposed to mineral-rich waters, like seawater, would have varying effects to it, depending on it's exposure time. The most severe one would be when it is exposed to mineral-rich water for longer than an hour. Interestingly, the material would expand, gaining the hardness of a metal, while it's edges would flatten out, becoming a keen edge that could cut. This would then cut into the very wires it was meant to protect should Dom make a wrong move.

Thankfully, he was only exposed to it for a few seconds, his internal systems being hot enough to dry the seawater that had entered his body completely. But that also meant he was still exposed to danger. Because, when it was exposed to seawater in that few seconds, it becomes something like memory foam, returning to it's original shape. And, in this case, it's original shape was being a cylinder of the non-conductive material. So his plating would roll up, exposing the circuits on his side to the whole world.

So, just a single touch on his body from anything that was electric in nature, and boom! Dom becomes dominated.

.

"Sure, sure." Lazily, Jade swung her axe. However, this time, instead of swinging it in a swaying motion like a wave, she had thrust forwards with it, before spinning the axe in her hand.

At that moment–

A large torrent appeared, flooding the entire house and it's surroundings.

"What the-"

"Gah!"

"Shit, it got wet!"

"Worry about that later! Your gun! Disarm the girl! Disarm her! It looks like she used that axe to control that large amount of water! Maybe she is using it as a way to focus her thoughts?"

"Fuck that!"

"Either way, she is dangerous too, so just disarm her!"

Dom caught this, and more, with his enhanced hearing. **"At least you stopped the water." **Thankfully for Dom, Jade had directed the water away from him, creating a perfect cylinder of dry space of about two metres in width around him.

"Don't thank me yet." With a lazy wave of her axe, she cleared the water around them, extending the radius of the dry space to about four metres in width and length. "You are still vulnerable to those type of attacks. Plus, those annoying flies are trying to pick us off. My flood only got some of them."

"**You did plenty." **Dom patted itself down, removing a few of the many small pieces of debris that had stuck to its frame(mainly mud and some scraps of paper). **"With this, the plan can go into Phase 2."**

..

..

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear! Ready to move, Leader!"

Nodding her head to her subordinates reports, Shutaura readied her guns, making sure they were full of ammunition, before she gave the order. "Get ready to move out at any time!"

When they received word that there were intruders in the District, the members of Anti-Skill and the Black Crow unit began to prep themselves for a location change. There were some members of Anti-Skill that were grumbling because of the meticulous way the Black Crow Unit had made them do things(one of them was the non-negotiable order of assembling and reassembling a gun when they needed to do so.), but it payed off for those who managed to survive the painful training, briefing and selection phase. Because they had seen what one of the members of the group that was after a single 16-years old girl did to others and themselves, they had instead chosen to steel their hearts and minds in preparation for what they were about to do.

"**Okay. All clear. Sequenzia-san, please bring Akikawa-san out of the premises. My group, fire at will. Bring that hunk of metal into an enclose room!"** Suddenly, a voice burst to life from the radio that was attached to her hip.

Not even batting an eye at the loud static voice, Shutuara instead replied with a short 'roger'. "Alright, get into your positions! Scouts, set off! Main units one to three, standby for the scout unit's all clear!"

""""Yes Leader!"""" Both Anti-Skill members and Black Crow units shouted at the same time, causing the young girl they were protecting to cower slightly, hands pressed tightly against her ears at the sudden increase in volume.

_I really wish they would not call me that. _Shutaura had mixed feelings on the Anti-Skill members calling her 'Leader'. On one hand, it showed that she was in direct command of this group of males and females. However, it was a little discomforting for her to hear that name come from the mouths of people she barely worked with before.

She quickly shook off that feeling of discomfort, instead waiting for the all-clear signal from the two scout-teams she had sent ahead.

Her plan was simple: Split into five groups, two scout teams of 4 members, and 3 main teams of ten. All in all, there were 38 members under her command. There was also another 40 members under Informant's thumb, but Shutaura did not care for their actions at that moment, unless it interfered directly with her movements.

The scout teams would fan out, covering an area of about 10 metres ahead of the main teams, which would be splitting off into three different directions. The routes seemed random and spread far apart at first, but they had been organised such that if one group was in trouble, the other two can either reinforce the attacked team, or escape quickly via one-time use jet-packs. These jetpacks were the size of a school bag, but was able to bring a full-grown, heavily equipped man up to a height of 100 metres and, get them to land safely as they descended.

As Shutaura briefly thought about the plan in her head once more, a small vibration brought her out of her thoughts. Looking down, she saw the two indicators she had been waiting for light up. _Good, looks like everything is fine. _"Teams, move out!"

"Yes, Leader."

"Yes, Leader."

Two separate voices answered her call this time. One from a brown-haired, scruffy looking man, the other from a ponytailed woman.

These two were the vice-leaders of the entire group under Shutaura, and each one were in control of a group of ten members. The first one was someone under her command. Archer Tomaya. The second one was a member of Anti-Skill, Yomikawa Aiho.

Shutaura was unsure if she had met this woman before, but something about her struck a sense of familiarity with her…

Shaking her head once more to clear her thoughts, she began to direct her subordinates she was commanding, leading them to the final location: A certain train yard.

..

..

Yomikawa Aiho was a woman who lived with a few principles.

…wait, that was not completely true. Yomikawa Aiho isa woman who lives by few principles.

The first principle: If they are children, there is no shame in being nude for a short period of time, be they be at their own home, or someone else's.

The second principle: Work should always be done well. No slacking off is allowed.

The third principle: Children should be educated properly, and they should have a healthy and fit body.

And the last, and most important principle in her book: No using of weapons or harmful experimentation against\on children, even if they are criminals or are attempting to harm someone, including her own life.

These four principles could be said to make the core of her personality and character.

…Well, besides her cleaning tendencies and 'love-to-the-point-of-physical-harm' methods…

In any case, the woman known as Yomikawa Aiho was one that adored children, and would do as much as humanely possible to protect children. It was one of the reasons she decided to work in Academy City. To protect the main residents in there, which were children.

They may be smarter than her…

…they may be stronger her…

…some may be delinquents, others respectable scientists in their respective fields…

…some could be even making more money than her on a weekly basis…

But to her, they were children that needed caring, regardless of age, gender or position.

These reasons actually stemmed from someone she had met many times: Her niece.

Not much is known about Yomikawa Aiho. At least, to the public. But, prior to her working in Academy City, she worked as a police officer in Tokyo.

Yomikawa was one of the average policewomen that you could find anywhere. Like any other person, she slacked off, drank on the job(very rarely though), worked overtime for mundane reasons, and had a crappy sort of life when it came to love.

But, if there is one thing she loved, it was her niece: The daughter of her sister.

The sister in question was not the typical sister. A bond-deeper-than friendship type of sister, not her actual blood-related sister, nor a stepsister from another mother or father. But did it matter? Not really.

Her niece's name was Aiko Abiko. She had strawberry-blonde hair, chestnut-brown eyes, and a inquisitive personality. She was like her mother in several ways: Impulsive, gentle and somewhat crude. But that added to her charm. She was only twelve years of age, yet she already had dozens of boys pinning after her. She was like the daughter Yomikawa never had.

Every time Yomikawa had a chance, she would visit her niece's place and play with her. Every time she did so, Yomikawa felt refreshed, even if she got exhausted by the end of it.

But that all changed one day.

It was supposed to a simple arresting of a robber. That was what should have happened. But reality was cruel.

Her colleague, having entered the shop, pointed a gun at the figure of a child who was holding a knife at the robber. Even though she was asked to put down the knife, she chose to continue to point it at the seemingly innocent man. And so, he fired off a warning shot.

And hell broke loose in the city.

The child who had been holding the knife was her niece. When the police officer fired off that warning shot, the bullet ricocheted, lodging itself inside her arm, thankfully not hitting any major arteries. But, because of that, the robber got away. They only managed to catch the robber after a month, with a trail of bodies and looted stores leading the way to his capture.

Aiko was discharged from the hospital a month later. But it took two years for her to regain her arm's mobility. Even now, her niece's arm was still healing, nowhere near it's original condition when she was thirteen years of age.

At that moment, Yomikawa swore. That she would never point a weapon at a child, lest the same thing happened to her niece.

And right now, she was working to protect yet another child, half a decade later.

_I wonder, how Aiko is now? _Yomikawa smiled faintly as she reminisced. It had been a few years since she last met the strawberry-blonde. _Wait, focus! There could be enemies any-_

A tingle shot up her spine. "Get down!" Ordering her group, Yomikawa immediately ducked. Thanks to their training, three quarters of the group did just that. But as for the other 3 members that did not listen…they hit the ground, snoring.

"Oho?" A female voice echoed in the night. "So, one of you could sense my arrows? My Goddess must favour you."

"Who are you ?" Discreetly, Yomikawa motioned for her subordinates to look for their enemy, while her eyes scanned the area behind them. "Are you here for Akikawa Mie? If you are, then you would have to get through us first!"

"My name…yes, I should let you know what my name is, in honour of my goddess favouring you." The female mused. Despite how open it was, her voice echoed, and could be heard very clearly.

A hint of movement drew Yomikawa's eyes. Locking onto the figure, she was slightly surprised to see the owner of the voice, a female, was holding a wooden bow, a quiver of arrows attached to her back. She also wore a silver parka, and a pelt skirt.

"My name is Huntress." The girl's fae could not be seen because of the hood, but Yomikawa sense that the girl was smiling slightly. "I would have you hand over the data we want."

* * *

**AN**

**So, how was my backstory on Yomikawa Aiho? Pretty interesting right?**

**I noticed that some fics I read have great backstories for the characters that we see(or read, for unadapted novels), but as for the main series, some of the minor characters, which play an important part in character development, have an air of mystery around them. What are their objectives? What is their history? Any family members? Reasons for doing what they did?**

**Yomikawa is a person we see often in Toaru whenever Touma has to interact with Academy City's law enforcement, or it's educational system. She can't really be considered a mob character in the end, right? Since her actions have quite the impact in Toaru, Railgun and Accelerator series and spinoffs. So, I tried my hand out on making a OC backstory for a character we are familiar with. **

**Was it good? Or bad?**

**Then, we have the scene with Arisa and Shutaura. To clarify for those who are confused: They think of each other as sisters, which is partially acceptable, since they literally came from the same flesh and blood.**

**Anime is Life, and please review!**


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